Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: should double have better precision or greater range?
Message-ID: <1988Sep13.214804.3053@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <8809061831.AA29128@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <1988Sep7.194946.4808@utzoo.uucp>
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 88 21:48:04 GMT

In article <1988Sep7.194946.4808@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>IEEE floating point requires an "extended" format, for example.  (NB, there
>are a number of machines that use IEEE data formats without implementing
>the full IEEE standard.)  ...

Turns out I missed a bit of weasel-wording in the standard that permits
one to implement just single precision plus a corresponding extended format,
and double precision meets (I think) the constraints on extended single,
so it is technically legitimate to have just single and double.  Barf.
-- 
NASA is into artificial        |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
stupidity.  - Jerry Pournelle  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu