Re: Fixed Point Arithmetic

"David Cressey" <cressey73_at_verizon.net> wrote:

[snip]

>When it comes to the stock market, it depends on the country. AFAIK, the
>NYSE still records stock "points" in units of dollars, with binary
>fractional points like 1/4, 1/32, and the like. The use of decimal FPs
>with this kind of data will introduce round off problems that would have
>been avoided with binary floating point numbers.

     Try again. Since 10 is evenly divisible by 2, you simply need more precision. For example, 1/32 is exactly representable in decimal as .03125.

[snip]

>Are fixed point numbers a useful from for DBMSes to support?

     Of course, since they often deal with such numbers. Currency amounts are almost certainly the most common example.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation:

     I have preferences.
     You have biases.
     He/She has prejudices.