[comp.lang.forth] IEEE FP

GEnie@willett.UUCP (ForthNet articles from GEnie) (12/19/89)

 Date: 12-17-89 (13:27)              Number: 331 (Echo)
   To: ROEDY GREEN                   Refer#: 321
 From: JACK BROWN                      Read: NO
 Subj: IEEE FP                       Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE

 RG>IF you specify IEEE binary format, mainframers will simply have to
 RG>ignore you. The overhead of converting to IEEE in F! would be enormouse
 RG>and silly. If you don't specify IEEE format, the micro people will all
 RG>use it anyway because that is how the 80387 etc work.  So my vote goes
 RG>for leaving it out.

 Since I have been the major proponent for the inclusion of IEEE you and
 others may be interested in knowing that my ear has been bent after
 listening carefully to several Forth people with mainframe and
 minicomputer backgrounds.  I intend to withdraw my proposal to specify
 IEEE binary format in favour of one which will specify a words to
 convert a systems "internal floating point format" to the IEEE binary
 format inorder to promote exchange of floating point data.
 ---
  * QDeLuxe 1.01 #260s

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