> As a consequence of this simple math structure, it is very easy to build in hardware without any additional handling of nasty special cases. Which is exactly

> As a consequence of this simple math structure, it is very easy to build in hardware without any additional handling of nasty special cases. Which is exactly my point! It's only the way we build things, not some hard-and-fast way things work intrinsically. I have no argument with it's an extremely simple way to deal with an over- or under- flow. But that's my point! It's a way to deal with the case, not the case itself!