ERP is all about numbers, and lots of them. While you may rightfully argue that it's a job for SQL servers, the lack of fast base-10-exp numbers in apps creates

ERP is all about numbers, and lots of them. While you may rightfully argue that it's a job for SQL servers, the lack of fast base-10-exp numbers in apps creates a very inconvenient and performance-bound gap in development of these systems. Also, ieee754 floats usually leak into most general purpose scripting languages from the fast-ish category, cause there's no hardware alternative. Two main issues with this are: 1. people who do scripting may be unaware of numeric issues related to base-mismatch, 2. "domestic" calculations and formatting still become cumbersome for those who know. Another issue is that to properly build decimals in (think native + - / * operators), you have to modify the language model around that, and it comes with all sorts of prices. In short, people want the results to compare correctly to their pocket calculators. "A human number is [+-]<decimals>.<decimals> in a ~20-digit-max window" is an idiom everyone is familiar with and all business requirements assume that by default.