The programmer _wants_ to operate on a real number; the mental/abstract model of whatever application they’re building almost certainly involves real numbers in

The programmer _wants_ to operate on a real number; the mental/abstract model of whatever application they’re building almost certainly involves real numbers instead of floats. It’s the conversation from an abstract model to a concrete instantiation where floats are used, generally out of necessity or ignorance. The fewer details needed to do this conversion, the easier it is to develop programs. When I say easier, I mean it’s faster AND less buggy — since the conversation often involves introduces errors, subtleties, and logic not present in the abstract model.