It is both specific and non-specific depending on what you are trying to achieve. In the special case of 0.1 + 0.2 != 0.3, this is specific, and using decimal

It is both specific and non-specific depending on what you are trying to achieve. In the special case of 0.1 + 0.2 != 0.3, this is specific, and using decimal will "fix" it. But decimal, or for that matter any representation will have the exact same issue for other cases. Arbitrary precision means exactly that: arbitrary, as in not infinite precision. How will you represent irrational numbers with decimal ? It is theoretically impossible. That's why most advices about using decimals instead of IEEE 754 are not appropriate. In the special case of accounting, it is appropriate, but I am somewhat doubtful most people don't need to do occasional computation with their numbers involving transcendental functions (e.g. log, exp, etc...). As soon as you start using this, you will see the issue cropping up, whatever representation you may want to use. And IEEE 754 representation has been conceived by people who really knew what they were doing (e.g. W. Kahan)