Richard Gaskin wrote:
Maybe not. We know, for example, that Excel already accounts for this
in its own code, correcting for the critical failure of the
microprocessor designers. Anyone have time to check if RB, VB, and
others do too?
Python doesn't - though since it's a strongly typed (though dynamically
typed) language, I wouldn't expect it to- once it decides that a
variable should be a floating-point, it uses the native type and
processing for it.
As of Python2.4, the "Decimal" package provides an excellent solution to
this (and many similar but harder) problems.
See
http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0327.html#the-problem-with-binary-float
for the discussion explaining the problems, alternative solutions
considered and the rationale for the version chosen.
I just checked HyperCard and it allows the wrong answer (one more
reason we can be glad it died with dignity while it could).
Way back when there was a question about date calculations, and we
found a similar problem with the Win OS, and a similar message from
RunRev about how it's an OS limitation. But on further investigation
we discovered that RB, VB, VBA, and many others had long been
correcting for that OS limitation on their own languages.
If we find that other high-level systems follow Excel's lead on this
one, perhaps there's an even stronger argument to asking Rev to
account for this processor failure (that is, in addition to the answer
being wrong).
Bring BCD , that's what I say .... :-)
"BCD"?
Binary Coded Decimal. (I'm showing my age :-)
-- Alex.
--
Alex Tweedly http://www.tweedly.net
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