8
votes
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Luckily this is quite simple to make clear, even if you are steering clear of the IEEE standard. Honestly, even binary is not needed here.
I would start by borrowing a page from Scheme, and say that ...
- 32.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Better yet, is there any way I can show the students such an explanation? (Perhaps an online, interactive demonstration of floating point precision etc. - I couldn't find one)
Show them these bits of ...
- 5,430
5
votes
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Tell the students they have seven decimal digits of precision in a float, and that the decimal point is placed "somewhere" within those seven digits, depending on the magnitude of the number.
Ask ...
- 409
2
votes
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Actually, it isn't quite so clear. If I run this in Java:
...
- 35.8k
1
vote
What is a fairly exhaustive list for how decimal numbers are written in source code?
3.14e2
3.14e-67f
.14E4f
0x10.1p0
0x1p5
0x1e5
3.14'15'92
3.14e-4932l
3.14e38f
3.14e38
3.14e38l
3.14_15F
10_000_000.0
+1.23E+1
3.1415926D0
5.d0
1.
0xfadebeep-8
1
vote
Creating a rubric for computer arithmetic
I missed this question!
I will attempt to provide feedback in parts:
I am concerned that there are too many critiera.
I don't understand the reason for this concern, so I cannot comment upon it. The ...
- 32.7k
1
vote
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Simple demonstration of "precision" using handheld calculators.
Get a pair of calculators. One cheap model that has a limited number of digits in its display. Models can be found built in to ...
- 5,425
1
vote
Explaining to students why to use double instead of float (unless there's a very good reason)
Many compilers will promote floats to doubles, do the calculation, and cast back. I see little or no reason to use floats unless one is dealing with huge matrices of floating-point numbers. I ...
- 2,319
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