# Exact linear algebra

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/exact-linear-algebra/6167>\
**Category:** Numerics\
**Tags:** linearalgebra\
**Created:** [September 30, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/exact-linear-algebra/6167 "2017-09-30T13:48:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/exact-linear-algebra/6167/5 "2017-09-30T17:41:57Z")

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> [@tkoolen](#):
>
> `typeof(BigInt(1) / BigInt(2))` is `BigFloat`. I think this can be called a bug, and you should report it to Julia.

This is not a bug. It was decided early on that `/` for two integers in Julia should produce a floating-point value. If you want a `Rational` result, use `Rational` inputs.

It might be interesting to have a library for exact linear-algebra calculations on integer matrices, perhaps along the lines of [LinBox](http://www.linalg.org/). But since the [algorithms appear to be quite different](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377042703007234), it seems like it should be a separate package from “ordinary” generic linear algebra routines that rely on division.

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