Float
Revision as of 22:03, 12 December 2008 by I like pie (talk | contribs)
The float datatype is a type of computing variable. It has three parts: the mantissa, the exponent, and the sign.
The mantissa is the number itself; it is multiplied by 
to get the actual number represented by this float. The sign determines whether the number is positive or negative.
Advantages and Disadvantages with Fixed Datatype
Advantages:
- Float has a significantly larger range of numbers than fixed. For example, 123450000000 and 0.00012345 take up the same space.
- It is an important metric in measuring computational power (in FLOPS).
Disadvantages:
- Float must take up a slightly larger amount of space than fixed in order to exercise its full potential.
- With floats, there is a possibility of low-precision rounding.
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