Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #6867

Re: higher precision doubles

Date	2011-08-08 05:37 -0700
From	Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject	Re: higher precision doubles
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On 8/8/2011 12:05 AM, Jan Burse wrote:
> Eric Sosman schrieb:
>>> I would like for whatever reason work with 80bit
>>> floats as defined above in Java. I am interested
>>> in the full set of arithmetic functions, I/O and
>>> trigonometric functions. How could I do that?
>>
>> You have already said "So pointing me to JLS is like turning
>> cycles, only confirming that Java has only float and double." That
>> is, the JLS has already given you an answer -- but you don't like
>> the answer, and keep asking for a different one. Do you really
>> think your persistent rejection of "No" is productive?
>
>
> You are the first one that says "no". One could of
> course do something along the following lines:
>
> public class DoubleExt {
> private long mantissa;
> private short exponent;
> }
>
> And then make a package that interfaces with some
> of the known C libs for 80bit floats.
>
> But would this be considered the best practice?

Whether it is best practice, or even practical, depends on the
characteristics of the code that needs extended precision.

If the extended precision arithmetic comes in fairly isolated chunks, so
that you can afford significant overhead for each chunk, you could
indeed write some part of the application in Java and still do the
extended precision arithmetic in another language.

For comparison, my doctoral dissertation research used a program that
did a lot of general computation that I needed to be able to change
rapidly, and some big blocks of linear algebra. I did the linear algebra
in Matlab, because it had exactly the functions I needed, but the rest
of the program was in Java.

If the extended precision arithmetic is scattered uniformly throughout
the program, and there is too much of it to do it in software emulation,
you need to write the whole program in a language that
supports hardware extended precision.

This is why I have been trying to find out more about the application or
applications that need the extended precision arithmetic - it is
difficult to suggest solutions without knowing a bit about the requirements.

Patricia

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higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-06 00:20 +0200
  Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-06 03:35 -0700
    Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-06 13:03 +0200
      Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-06 12:20 -0700
        Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-06 23:30 +0200
          Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-06 16:12 -0700
            Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 01:35 +0200
              Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-06 19:26 -0700
    Re: higher precision doubles supercalifragilisticexpialadiamaticonormalizeringelimatisticantations <supercalifragilisticexpialadiamaticonormalizeringelimatisticantations@averylongandannoyingdomainname.com> - 2011-08-09 00:42 -0400
      Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-09 04:07 -0700
        Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-09 14:00 +0200
          Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-09 09:07 -0700
            Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-10 08:50 +0200
        Re: higher precision doubles supercalifragilisticexpialadiamaticonormalizeringelimatisticantations <supercalifragilisticexpialadiamaticonormalizeringelimatisticantations@averylongandannoyingdomainname.com> - 2011-08-10 20:16 -0400
      Re: higher precision doubles Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2011-08-09 10:11 -0500
        Re: higher precision doubles Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2011-08-09 22:40 -0400
          Re: higher precision doubles Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2011-08-09 22:06 -0500
            Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-10 08:53 -0700
  Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-06 21:24 +0200
    Re: higher precision doubles markspace <-@.> - 2011-08-06 13:29 -0700
      Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-06 23:20 +0200
        Re: higher precision doubles markspace <-@.> - 2011-08-06 15:43 -0700
          Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 01:06 +0200
            Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-06 16:21 -0700
              Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 01:34 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-06 21:32 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 17:24 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 17:39 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-07 09:26 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 21:23 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-08-07 20:48 -0400
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-08 09:05 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-08 05:37 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-08 19:08 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-08 19:16 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-08 19:29 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2011-08-08 21:34 -0500
                Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-08 13:49 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-09 01:08 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-09 02:44 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-09 12:52 +0200
                Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-09 13:15 -0700
                Re: higher precision doubles BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-08-07 13:51 -0700
              Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 01:59 +0200
        Re: higher precision doubles Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2011-08-08 21:03 -0500
    Re: higher precision doubles Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-08-06 17:33 -0400
    Re: higher precision doubles Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-08-06 14:51 -0700
      Re: higher precision doubles Jan Burse <janburse@fastmail.fm> - 2011-08-07 00:57 +0200

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