How to define points with irrational coordinates in SVG?

Question

Let's say I want to draw a sqare in svg which has a diagonal of 1. That means the edges of the square would have a length of a = 1/sqrt(2). The coordinates of the square's vertices then would be: (0,0), (0,a), (a,0) and (a,a). Of course I could approximate a with a decimal number and use this number. But what if I want the vertices to be mathematically precise, for example because I want them to be exactly on some line I know to go through the intended point?

I'm totally new to SVG. I was reading up on transformations here, hoping to get some pointers, but it got me confused.

Does anyone know if this can be done and if so, how?

Answer 1

SVG doesn't support anything like that.

But you'll get pretty good precision from a floating point approximation. There won't be very many scenarios where you'll see the errors once the SVG is rendered, unless you are magnifying it a lot.

If the svg is embedded in web page - and if you are noticing errors under high magnification - you could consider modifying the SVG dynamically with JavaScript, rather than applying SVG transforms.