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floatingpoint


floatingpoint

 

  1  definition  found 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  floating-point 
 
    A  number  representation  consisting  of  a 
  {mantissa},  M,  an  {exponent},  E,  and  an  (assumed)  {radix}  (or 
  "base")  .  The  number  represented  is  M*R^E  where  R  is  the 
  radix  -  usually  ten  but  sometimes  2. 
 
  Many  different  representations  are  used  for  the  mantissa  and 
  exponent  themselves.  The  {IEEE}  specify  a  {standard} 
  representation  which  is  used  by  many  hardware  floating-point 
  systems. 
 
  See  also  {floating-point  accelerator},  {floating-point  unit}. 
 
  {Normalisation}  is  the  process  of  converting  a  floating  point 
  number  into  {canonical}  form  where  any  number  other  than  zero 
  has  a  mantissa  whose  first  digit  is  non-zero. 
 
  Opposite:  {fixed-point}. 
 
  (1995-03-21)