doubles are more precise than floats.

I can''t speak for all platforms, but a float is 4 bytes on Win32, and a double is 8 bytes.

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-edit- Note: This is off topic, its a retort.

quote:Original post by siaspete
doubles are more precise than floats.

I can't speak for all platforms, but a float is 4 bytes on Win32, and a double is 8 bytes.

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doubles are more precise but the range is smaller than a float.

the reason why a float is called a float is because the decimal point floats around so it makes the range bigger.

besides, on most modern computers (atleast with Sparc, intel and amd, not sure about powerpc chips though, but probably the same if not better) floats are faster.

well anyway, so when dealing with really screwey large or small numbers, go with a float. Best way is to make your own format though, so you get a more precise float. You do not want to be using doubles for really extreme maths though. Maybe if it was a 32byte double, but again, why use a 32byte double when you can use an 8byte or even your normal 4byte float?


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[edited by - Dredge-Master on March 26, 2002 5:50:23 PM]

k, i don''t know what kind of smack you guys are on....

from the MSDN for VS.NET.

C Language Reference

Floating-point variables are represented by a mantissa, which contains the value of the number, and an exponent, which contains the order of magnitude of the number.

The following table shows the number of bits allocated to the mantissa and the exponent for each floating-point type. The most significant bit of any float or double is always the sign bit. If it is 1, the number is considered negative; otherwise, it is considered a positive number.

Lengths of Exponents and Mantissas

Type Exponent length Mantissa length
float 8 bits 23 bits
double 11 bits 52 bits

Range of Floating-Point Types

Type Minimum value Maximum value
float 1.175494351 E – 38 3.402823466 E + 38
double 2.2250738585072014 E – 308 1.7976931348623158 E + 308

If precision is less of a concern than storage, consider using type float for floating-point variables. Conversely, if precision is the most important criterion, use type double.

Floating-point variables can be promoted to a type of greater significance (from type float to type double). Promotion often occurs when you perform arithmetic on floating-point variables. This arithmetic is always done in as high a degree of precision as the variable with the highest degree of precision. For example, consider the following type declarations:


therefore "double" IS MORE PERCISE than "float". EOD.

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quote:Original post by TerranFury
In other words: There is nothing you can do with a float that you can''t do with a double.

You can''t write fast games: if we replaced all our float code with double code the game would probably drop from 60 to well under 30 fps.

Floats are accurate to better than 1 part in a million, i.e. errors are less than 1mm per km, I can''t think of any gaming appilcation for better precision than this. For comparison in science experiements are usually accurate to no more than 1 part in a thousand, and are often a lot less accurate.