RE: Strange result with exponents...

[James Rich <james@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004, jt wrote:

> "Apparently" (to me obviously), the IEEE spec is a "joke" because it's so
> out-dated.  And fixed-in-stone standards that don't change with modern
> computing end up working AGAINST the computer industry.  Plus, I doubt if a
> lot of these kinds-a Standards Bodies even HAD any awareness of the 400
> platform to begin with.

> | 2) As I've said before, IEEE float will not give you an exact result
> | anyways, so of course it should be avoided for monetary calculations.

Hans' point was that for monetary calculations float should be avoided.
The "joke" here is that you are applying a expression scheme for
non-precise numbers to a math problem that requires exact calculations.
You are confusing methods for representing numbers.  There is absolutely
nothing wrong with the specification itself.  Consider these two different
types of problems:

1.  Counting money.  You know exactly how much money you have.  You can
lay out each bill and count it.  Everything you need to count is right in
front of you.

2.  Measuring nature.  You cannot know exactly how far away your neighbor
is because your measuring stick (normally called instruments) has limited
precision.  No matter how good of a measuring stick you have, there is
always some amount of imprecision.

These two types of problems differ in your ability to know quantities with
absolute exactness.  It is easy to know how many fingers I have (an exact
entity) but it is very hard to know precisely how much they weigh (an
inexact entity).  Decimal expressions are used for problems that match the
first type (most iSeries software falls into this category).  Floating
point expressions are used for problems of the second type.  Do not use
the wrong type of expressions for the wrong problem.

James Rich

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