Re: Significant digits in a float?

Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Date	2014-04-28 11:31 -0700
References	<B654EA7E-35C7-4A78-A673-4CAD0C23B5C0@panix.com> <mailman.9551.1398702541.18130.python-list@python.org>
Message-ID	<3368085f-e841-4ba1-a37e-12bae8d58746@googlegroups.com> (permalink)
Subject	Re: Significant digits in a float?
From	Roy Smith <roy@panix.com>

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On Monday, April 28, 2014 12:28:59 PM UTC-4, Chris Angelico wrote:

> Terminology question: Why do you count only what's after the decimal
> point? I would describe these as having between 2 and 6 significant
> figures. Will they always have two digits before the decimal, or does
> your precision really care only about what's after it?

Hmmm, yeah, I was being sloppy in my description.  Definitely would have gotten points off in physics class for being so sloppy :-)

No, there's not always two digits before the decimal.  Could be anywhere from 0 to 3 digits before. What I'm really after is how many digits are after the decimal point.

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Re: Significant digits in a float? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-29 02:28 +1000
  Re: Significant digits in a float? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-04-28 11:31 -0700

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