Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:16740 comp.lang.fortran:1802
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: Sun FPU question
Message-ID: <9798@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 6 Mar 89 12:13:24 GMT
References: <10660@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> <331@kvasir.esosun.UUCP> <92543@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 15

In article <92543@sun.uucp> dgh%dgh@Sun.COM (David Hough) writes:
>Programs that are written with IEEE arithmetic in mind generally
>find that the default results are appropriate.

That is tautological.  Programs NOT written with IEEE arithmetic
in mind may very well produce undetected nonsense (instead of
silly but detectable behavior, like a core dump).  The whole
IEEE arithmetic approach has both proponents and opponents,
reasonable people all, and this is not the place to argue its
merits.  I'm glad to see that at least SOME indication that
exceptions were triggered is available under the latest Sun
Fortran.

P.S.  Thanks to D. Hough for his help in improving the ANSI C
floating-point specs.