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| From | Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> |
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.python |
| Subject | What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) |
| Date | Tue, 12 Jul 2016 06:56:10 +1000 |
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Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> writes: > I will readily admit to not having a maths degree, and so of course to > me saying the integer 123 has a precision of 5, 10, or 99 digits seems > like hogwash to me. Precision is not a property of the number. It is a property of the *representation* of that number. The representation “1×10²” has a precision of one digit. The representation “100” has a precision of three digits. The representation “00100” has a precision of five digits. The representation “100.00” also has a precision of five digits. Those can all represent the same number; or maybe some of them represent “one hundred” and others represent “one hundred and a millionth”. The representation is only an approximation of the actual number, and the precision tells us how fuzzy the approximation is. None of these say how *accurate* the representation is; if those are representations of the number “seven thousand” they are not very accurate, while they might be passably accurate for the number “one hundred and seventy”. > But I'm always willing to learn. So please explain what 123 with a > precision of five integer digits means, and what to do we gain by > saying such a thing? We gain clarity of speech: we distinguish the different aspects (how many digits of this representation are actually claimed to represent the number?) communicated by a representation. -- \ “… no testimony can be admitted which is contrary to reason; | `\ reason is founded on the evidence of our senses.” —Percy Bysshe | _o__) Shelley, _The Necessity of Atheism_, 1811 | Ben Finney
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Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-09 22:54 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-10 01:21 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-10 17:34 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 09:04 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 02:28 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 10:24 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-07-12 11:47 +1200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 17:24 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 19:16 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 12:38 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 13:38 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 00:21 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-13 09:57 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 00:05 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-13 18:49 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-13 16:01 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-13 20:04 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 15:24 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 18:45 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 20:39 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:18 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-14 17:47 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-14 07:34 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 08:30 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-14 19:02 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 11:10 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-14 20:30 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 18:17 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 18:08 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-15 09:06 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 09:54 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 11:40 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-15 20:56 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 13:44 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:38 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 16:47 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:13 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-16 01:12 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-15 09:39 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 16:32 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 13:05 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:28 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-16 01:13 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 18:27 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-15 12:20 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 12:44 +0200
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 16:26 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 16:17 +0100
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-15 16:35 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-16 10:57 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2016-07-14 01:59 +0100
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-13 07:46 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 16:04 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:00 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 16:16 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:49 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 17:23 +0300
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 00:28 +1000
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-11 14:54 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 13:27 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 14:06 -0600
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-11 16:34 -0400
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-11 16:52 -0400
What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-07-12 06:56 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-07-11 23:28 +0100
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 14:22 -0700
Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 07:51 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Jan Coombs <jenfhaomndgfwutc@murmic.plus.com> - 2016-07-12 00:14 +0100
Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 09:57 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 14:19 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 14:36 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-12 11:50 +0200
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-12 13:27 +0300
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-12 13:02 +0200
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 23:16 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 15:17 -0700
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 16:21 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-12 09:36 -0400
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 15:29 -0700
Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-07-12 11:26 +1200
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 11:57 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-07-12 13:41 +1000
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-12 00:14 -0400
Re: What is precision of a number representation? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-12 00:17 -0400
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