752
Floating point arithmetics
(eviltoast.org)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
752 points (99.3% liked)
Programmer Humor
26827 readers
2270 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Show how 1/3 can be precisely represented in floating point.
fl_numerator = 1
fl_denominator = 3
And division is a "stretch goal" once we get funding.
How many decimal places can it be stretched?
As usual, the best jokes are in the comments. (Though goddamn I chuckled at the meme.)
Do you have a computer type that can represent the entire rational set?
Yes. Have a structure with 2 BigInts. Treat one as the numerator. The other as denominators.
It might not be efficient or fast. But it is possible.
You are proposing that can represent the entire rational set?
Yes that is correct. A BigInt represents the entire integer set.
Rational numbers are defined by just 2 integers. Therefore, 2 BigInts represent the entire rational set.
No. They all need to mimic certain numbers.
So, you have a notation that can represent the entire rational set?
What exactly is being mimicked?
No. That's not what the meme is about, and that's not what we're arguing about.
Fractions.