medium
2 min read
Floating point
Floating Point A floating-point number is a number that cannot be expressed exactly as a finite binary number. These numbers are represented using specia...
Quick Actions
Insights
Difficultymedium
Reading Time2 min
Floating Point A floating-point number is a number that cannot be expressed exactly as a finite binary number. These numbers are represented using specia...
A floating-point number is a number that cannot be expressed exactly as a finite binary number. These numbers are represented using special floating-point formats that allow them to represent a much wider range of values than finite numbers.
Floating-point numbers can be represented in different ways:
Single precision (32 bits): This format can represent around 7 digits of precision, including the fractional part. It is commonly used for representing real numbers.
Double precision (64 bits): This format can represent around 15 digits of precision, including both the fractional and the integer part.
Extended precision (double and triple): These formats can represent up to 23 and 53 digits of precision, respectively.
Floating-point numbers have several important properties:
They can represent both positive and negative numbers.
They can represent decimal numbers with non-integer parts.
They can be mantissa and exponent separately, allowing for more precise representation.
Different formats can have different accuracy and precision levels.
Floating-point numbers have a wide range of applications in computer science, including:
Data representation and analysis
Machine learning and artificial intelligence
Computer graphics and animation
Financial modeling
Scientific research
Examples of floating-point numbers:
3.14 (single-precision)
1.23456789 (double-precision)
3.141592653 (extended-precision)