All Several times in this discussion, it has been implied that using the right langauge for floating point operations would prevent problems. I would like to point out that regardless of the language and particular floating point format you choose such as HFP, BFP, or DFP, there will always be the opportuntiy for errors to creep into floating point caculations due to the fact that when two numbers are added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided the result stored in a floating point format may round or truncate the result to a finite value which is different from the actual result which may be an irrational number in a given base such as 1/3 in base 2 or 10.
There are lots of examples of business caculations that require use of floating point. One example that comes to mind is the requirement for many electric utilities to apply a fuel surcharge to monthly electrice bills. This rate is set by the Florida Public Service commission in Florida and the staff works out details such as how irrational results much be rounded to finite charge to be added to the bill. These calculations are periodically audited to verify that they are done according to the law. Don Higgins [email protected]
