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Since 2 10 = 1024, the complete range of the positive normal floating-point numbers in this format is from 2 −1022 ≈ 2 × 10 −308 to approximately 2 1024 ≈ 2 × 10 308. The number of normal floating-point numbers in a system (B, P, L, U) where B is the base of the system, P is the precision of the significand (in base B),
Decimal floating-point (DFP) arithmetic refers to both a representation and operations on decimal floating-point numbers. Working directly with decimal (base-10) fractions can avoid the rounding errors that otherwise typically occur when converting between decimal fractions (common in human-entered data, such as measurements or financial ...
Single-precision floating-point format (sometimes called FP32 or float32) is a computer number format, usually occupying 32 bits in computer memory; it represents a wide dynamic range of numeric values by using a floating radix point. A floating-point variable can represent a wider range of numbers than a fixed-point variable of the same bit ...
Double-precision floating-point format (sometimes called FP64 or float64) is a floating-point number format, usually occupying 64 bits in computer memory; it represents a wide range of numeric values by using a floating radix point. Double precision may be chosen when the range or precision of single precision would be insufficient.
Similar binary floating-point formats can be defined for computers. There is a number of such schemes, the most popular has been defined by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE 754-2008 standard specification defines a 64 bit floating-point format with: an 11-bit binary exponent, using "excess-1023" format.
Subnormal numbers ensure that for finite floating-point numbers x and y, x − y = 0 if and only if x = y, as expected, but which did not hold under earlier floating-point representations. [ 43 ] On the design rationale of the x87 80-bit format , Kahan notes: "This Extended format is designed to be used, with negligible loss of speed, for all ...
In a subnormal number, since the exponent is the least that it can be, zero is the leading significant digit (0.m 1 m 2 m 3...m p−2 m p−1), allowing the representation of numbers closer to zero than the smallest normal number. A floating-point number may be recognized as subnormal whenever its exponent has the least possible value.
Floating-point arithmetic is needed for very large or very small real numbers, or computations that require a large dynamic range.Floating-point representation is similar to scientific notation, except computers use base two (with rare exceptions), rather than base ten.