On Tuesday, 17 May 2016 at 20:50:06 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
On 5/16/2016 7:47 AM, Max Samukha wrote:
On Monday, 16 May 2016 at 14:21:34 UTC, Ola Fosheim Grøstad
wrote:
C++17 is getting hex literals for floating point for a
reason: accurate bit
level representation.
D has had hex FP literals for ages.
Since the first version, if I recall correctly. Of course, C++
had the idea first!
(Actually, the idea came from the NCEG (Numerical C Extensions
Group) work in the early 90's, which was largely abandoned. C++
has been very slow to adapt to the needs of numerics
programmers.)
The argument is not that C++ did anything first. The argument is
that bit level precision for float is becoming the norm. Both in
standards, languages and hardware. And that this makes it easier
to write faster and more accurate code.
Please note that I don't complain about D providing 80 bit
floats. Just don't apply it when I request 32 bit floats.
Some file formats have fields that are in the 80 bit intel
format, so having access to it is a good thing.
