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You say "incorrect", I say "incompatible assumptions". http://blog.reverberate.org/2014/09/what-every-computer-programmer-should.html http://blog.reverberate.or
by Piskvorrr 11y ago
You say "incorrect", I say "incompatible assumptions". http://blog.reverberate.org/2014/09/what-every-computer-programmer-should.html http://blog.reverberate.org/2014/09/what-every-computer-prog...
(TL;DR: Floating point arithmetic on binary numbers doesn't translate into decimal numbers intuitively, "weird" rounding errors appear.)
- brudgers 11y agoWhat is interesting is that, given its massive scale, Google is not performing decimal arithmetic for users. It's not that I don't understand why it isn't, but I think it highlights Google's values in regard to meeting the needs of ordinary people: e.g. how is a school teacher supposed to explain this to third graders?
- Piskvorrr 11y agoGood question. I'm in no way connected to Google, but I'm guessing this calculator could be a toy held together by string and duct tape, without any deeper thought having gone into its handling of numbers - floats being the default for non-integer numbers, it's likely that they were used; decimals require more coding and attention.