Walter Bright Wrote: > strtr wrote: > > abcd Wrote: > > > >> On the other hand, being an engineer, I use the reals all the time > >> and want them to stay. I would use the max precision supported by > >> the cpu then fixed precision like double any day. > >> > >> -sk > > > > For me it's the exact opposite, reproducibility/portability is key. > > My problem with real is that I am always afraid my floats get > > upgraded to them internally somewhere/somehow. > > With numerical work, I suggest getting the correct answer is preferable > <g>. Having lots of bits makes it more likely you'll get the right > answer. Yes, it is possible to get correct answers with low precision, > but it requires an expert and the techniques are pretty advanced.
The funny thing is that getting the exact correct answer is not that big of a deal. I would give a few bits of imprecision for portability over x86