[GNU-COBOL] What is meant by floating point variables

["David L. Nicol" <david@kasey.umkc.edu>]

Davyd Ondrejko wrote:

> > Do you want to know how Cobol works with floating-point variables ? Just tell
> > me, but I have to investigate it as I've never used it before in Cobol :-).
> 
> What do you mean by floating-point variables?  Things like PIC 99V9?

Floating point, which is not practical in business settings as it is
in scientific/engineering settings where you already have a limited
number of "significant digits" is like "exponential notation" you may
have had to work with in high school chemistry class.  The number is
divided into two integers, one the "exponent" and one the "mantissa"
and a value can then cover a much wider range, although only as
precisely
as the length of the "mantissa."

DEC pioneered hardware floating point in the PDP series of machinery
I understand or have been misguided into believing.

_______________________________________________________
               David Nicol 816.235.1187 nicold@umkc.edu
      Vendor extensions are quicksand -- Chad Slaughter

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