Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!decwrl!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhb!hpcllla!hpclisp!hpclskh!skh
From: skh@hpclskh.HP.COM (The Polar Bear)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Who uses BASIC these days (for serious application writing)
Message-ID: <960018@hpclskh.HP.COM>
Date: 15 May 89 18:42:02 GMT
References: <11581@well.UUCP>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Calif. Language Lab
Lines: 16

>>skh writes:
>>I'll take BASIC any day.  I wouldn't use C for financial programs myself.
>>Lack of support for fully accurate decimal arithmetic is a killer.
>
>I've never understood why this is such a big problem.
>Why cannot you just store dollars-and-cents as an
>integer number of cents?
>-- 
>	--Per Bothner
Integer arithmetic is often of insufficient range for financial applications.
When you start doing programs for multi-national companies and governments,
you start needing exponents.

Admittedly, many companies DO use integer arithmetic to get around this.  But
many are unwilling.  The extra programming involved is a real headache.
   skh