Re: Float numbers in module programming

[Peter Williams <pwil3058@bigpond.net.au>]

Olivier Galibert wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 30, 2006 at 01:46:20PM -0500, linux-os (Dick Johnson) wrote:
>> Yeah. The correct word was irrational, which is its definition. The
>> point was that one can do a lot of very accurate work on real numbers
>> without using the FP unit and the decimal system.
> 
> As long as you don't use sin/cos (oops, no 3D, no polar coordinates,
> no FFT), sqrt (oops no lenghts), pi (oops no non-polygonal surfaces)
> or ln/exp (oops, a lot of things are gone there).
> 
> Working with rationals is not that realistic nowadays except in things
> like mathematica, maple and friends.  Fixed-point though is still very
> realistics, it's just a different precision/scale tradeoff than fp,
> and one you control.

Fixed point is a special case of rational i.e. with a fixed denominator.

Peter
-- 
Peter Williams                                   pwil3058@bigpond.net.au

"Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious."
  -- Ambrose Bierce