The wikipedia example of Polynomial Long Division starts with:
Divide the first term of the numerator by the highest term of the denominator
if the denominator is $x-3$, and we don't know $x$, how to know which is highest? $x$ or $3$?
The wikipedia example of Polynomial Long Division starts with:
Divide the first term of the numerator by the highest term of the denominator
if the denominator is $x-3$, and we don't know $x$, how to know which is highest? $x$ or $3$?
"highest" here means not "greatest", but the one with the highest power of $x$ (which in this case is $x$).