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Arbitrary precision is the correct terminology. I can already represent any size integer I want on any computer. I could just declare that MAXINT represents Gra
by black-tea 8y ago
Arbitrary precision is the correct terminology. I can already represent any size integer I want on any computer. I could just declare that MAXINT represents Graham's number (for example). That doesn't mean that I can represent every integer between zero and Graham's number, though.
- slivym 8y agoBut it's not the precision that's arbitrary it's the range. If your number format represents 0-100 and you want to represent 200 then your number format isn't imprecise, it's limited range.
- black-tea 8y agoThe "range" is merely established by convention. If your computer supports 100 distinct values then you could say those values represent the integers [0,100) or you could say they represent the even integers in [0,200). The range can be arbitrarily large, but the precision is fixed.