Fixed-point arithmetic: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:31, 22 February 2004

Revision as of 01:55, 24 March 2004

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most fractions that are easily represented in base 10.

For example, one-tenth (.1) and one-hundredth (.01) can only be represented approximately

by base-2 floating point representations, while they can be represented exactly in fixed-point representations — one simply stores the data values multiplied by the appropriate power of 10.

As long as the numeric value uses only the number of digits specified after the

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for both fixed-point and floating-point.

ManyVery few computer languages do not include built-in support for fixed point values, because for most applications, floating-point representations are fast enough and accurate enough. Floating-point representations are more flexible than fixed-point representations, because they can handle a wider dynamic range.

Floating-point representations are also slightly easier to use, because they do not require programmers to specify the number of digits after the decimal point.