The big picture - page 6

Any complexity of arithmetic can be supported by this paradigm. For example, suppose we have a themometer and a printer. Then this single instruction prints the temperature:

   thermometer => printer

(I will now use names like "thermometer" and "printer" to stand in for whatever their long serial numbers actually are. That will make reading this much easier. Thus whenever you see "A => B" realize that A and B represent serial numbers.)

Suppose this particular thermometer puts out its temperature in degrees Celsius, and we want it printed in degrees Fahrenheit. The conversion formula is : F = (C x 1.8) + 32. Here is a sequence of ZOZ instructions to do that:

   thermometer => multiplier  // send the thermometer's output
   1.8 => multiplier          // and the number 1.8 to the multiplier
   multiplier => adder        // now send that product to the adder
   32 => adder                // and send the number 32 to the adder
   adder => printer           // and send that sum to the printer

We can also write that as:

   thermometer , 1.8 => multiplier , 32 => adder => printer

Basically, we are still doing "thermometer => printer", but passing the datum from the thermometer through various computational objects on the way.