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From: turk@apple.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Success of IEEE Floating Point Standard (IEEE 754)
Message-ID: <463@apple.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Feb-87 19:31:59 EST
Article-I.D.: apple.463
Posted: Tue Feb 10 19:31:59 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Feb-87 01:46:27 EST
References: <760@orcisi.UUCP> <112@lmi-angel.UUCP> <172@ames.UUCP> <203@ames.UUCP> <825@cca.ucsf.edu> <487@ico.UUCP>
Reply-To: turk@apple.UUCP (Ken "Turk" Turkowski)
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, USA
Lines: 17
Keywords: IEEE754 supercomputer standards

In previous articles:
>> Scenario: Someone (mis)designs a jetliner using `very fast' floating
>> point because it does not correctly handle an arithmetic condition
>> which would be correctly handled by an IEEE conforming system.
>> The liner crashes because of the defect and 300 people are killed.

The blame should not be left on the floating-point implementation.
The engineer who did the analysis should also have done a numerical
analysis to determine correctness of his solution.

Not even the IEEE floating point will correctly compute the solution to
an ill-conditioned problem or algorithm.
-- 
Ken Turkowski @ Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA
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