Re: Can this program be improved?

From	Guillaume <message@bottle.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Can this program be improved?
Date	2022-01-04 18:18 +0100
Organization	Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID	<sr1vgu$u1j$1@gioia.aioe.org> (permalink)
References	(19 earlier) <8735m41lwy.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> <b2918a53-acd6-4c46-9b58-6ac578bc055cn@googlegroups.com> <87y23wz9l9.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> <ff338dd2-a4fe-4b06-8b4a-e3622b666c9en@googlegroups.com> <sr1058$1thv$1@gioia.aioe.org>

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Le 04/01/2022 à 09:23, Mateusz Viste a écrit :
> 2022-01-03 at 15:43 -0800, Malcolm McLean wrote:
>> will have been melted down for metal. So is 53 bits enough? I don't
>> write programs that deal withh amounts of money, so I don't really
>> know. However if I had to choose a C type, I'd probably go for
>> integer representation of amounts in cents, using a double.
> 
> A double is nice to represent not-100%-precise fractional units,
> it really does not have its place in any kind of financial
> program, esp. if the goal is storing cents anyway.

Absolutely. Using FP for financial calculations is for people who don't 
know arithmetics. Maybe teaching some math (again) to CS students would 
help, here? :)

At the very least, if you absolutely want to use FP for this, at least 
use decimal FP. Although it can still have precision issues due to its 
floating point nature, at least rounding will not yield gross errors.

And if you're OK with using integers, but are afraid fixed-size ones (at 
least 64 bits) could be an unacceptable limit down the road, just use 
arbitrary precision arithmetic. And you don't need to hand-implement 
that, unless it's your thing. GNU GMP is great.

One of the many problems with FP can be easily shown. Apart from the 
usual unability to represent some numbers exactly, they also have an 
inherent problem when, for instance, adding very small numbers to very 
large ones.

Of course if all you do is writing "toy programs", use whatever. But 
somehow, if this is a student work, I would have a problem with calling 
student exercises "toy programs". That would certainly give them the 
wrong idea about how to do things properly. If they once used FP for 
financial operations, even on a small exercise, how can you know they 
won't do the same later on at work when having to write code dealing 
with financial calculations?

Thread

Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-25 01:00 +0000
  Re: Can this program be improved? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2021-12-24 21:44 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-25 12:56 +0100
    Re: Can this program be improved? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-25 11:13 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-12-25 23:50 +0100
    Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 18:52 +0000
      Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-26 19:22 +0000
        Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 21:30 +0000
          Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-26 22:02 +0000
          Re: Can this program be improved? Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2021-12-26 18:24 -0500
          Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-27 00:47 +0000
    Re: Can this program be improved? Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2021-12-29 17:52 +0100
      Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-29 17:49 +0000
        Re: Can this program be improved? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2021-12-29 11:33 -0800
          Re: Can this program be improved? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2021-12-29 22:45 -0500
            Re: Can this program be improved? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2021-12-30 00:35 -0800
              Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-12-30 10:19 +0100
          Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-01 18:19 +0000
            Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-01 19:33 +0000
        Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-29 14:37 -0800
          Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-29 23:09 +0000
            Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2021-12-29 23:54 +0000
              Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-29 16:11 -0800
              Re: Can this program be improved? Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-12-30 00:34 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-30 12:49 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-12-30 21:04 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-31 02:13 +0000
            Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-29 16:09 -0800
              Re: Can this program be improved? Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-12-30 00:59 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-29 17:48 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-12-30 20:47 +0000
              Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-30 01:06 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2021-12-30 04:48 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-12-30 18:16 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-31 02:20 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2021-12-31 18:25 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2021-12-31 18:13 -0500
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-31 23:59 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? "james...@alumni.caltech.edu" <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2021-12-31 16:20 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-31 16:35 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-01 00:53 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-31 20:22 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2021-12-31 22:04 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-01 14:59 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-02 17:22 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-02 20:49 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 03:09 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-01-03 16:22 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 14:42 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 14:52 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-03 22:58 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 04:27 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-04 13:39 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-04 00:18 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 15:24 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 15:43 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2022-01-03 21:19 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Mateusz Viste <mateusz@xyz.invalid> - 2022-01-04 09:23 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2022-01-04 18:18 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 10:35 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 14:07 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 15:11 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 15:47 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 18:30 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-01-04 23:46 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-04 18:41 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 10:52 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-01-04 19:00 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 11:15 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2022-01-04 21:57 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-04 21:02 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-01-04 21:38 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2022-01-04 23:01 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-04 09:31 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 01:30 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-04 14:55 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-04 06:21 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-04 16:49 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-04 15:56 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-04 15:03 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-03 22:54 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Mateusz Viste <mateusz@xyz.invalid> - 2022-01-03 09:22 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 03:30 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-03 17:22 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 08:48 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Mateusz Viste <mateusz@xyz.invalid> - 2022-01-03 18:42 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-03 17:59 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 11:09 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? Mateusz Viste <mateusz@xyz.invalid> - 2022-01-03 20:32 +0100
                Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2022-01-03 11:58 -0800
                Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-01-03 18:13 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2022-01-03 20:05 +0000
                Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2022-01-01 16:53 +0000
          Re: Can this program be improved? Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-12-30 00:29 +0000
  Re: Can this program be improved? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2021-12-25 12:47 +0000
    Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 18:56 +0000
  Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-25 17:38 +0000
    Re: Can this program be improved? Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2021-12-25 10:58 -0800
      Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-25 19:16 +0000
        Re: Can this program be improved? Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2021-12-25 11:25 -0800
      Re: Can this program be improved? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-12-25 15:01 -0800
        Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-25 23:09 +0000
          Re: Can this program be improved? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2021-12-25 20:56 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2021-12-25 19:30 +0000
      Re: Can this program be improved? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2021-12-25 15:50 -0800
        Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 19:02 +0000
    Re: Can this program be improved? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2021-12-25 11:53 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 19:00 +0000
  Re: Can this program be improved? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2021-12-25 11:22 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? Manu Raju <MR@invalid.invalid> - 2021-12-26 19:01 +0000
  Re: Can this program be improved? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2021-12-25 13:27 -0800
    Re: Can this program be improved? Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2021-12-25 16:06 -0800
  Re: Can this program be improved? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2021-12-29 15:21 +0000

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