geoff@burl.UUCP (geoff) (06/12/84)
I am working on a very primitive machine which lacks a division operation. What I really need is a reciprocal, so either type algorithm would be fine. I have shift, +,-, and *, as well as logical operators, available. I recall that IBM had an algorithm many years ago which used multiplication to divide (sort of a binary search -- multiply guess * number, compare to 1, adjust guess), but I don't remember it well enough (my attempt at such an algorithm required an avg of 20 iterations for reciprocals of numbers between 2 and 8000). Any help from the net would be sincerely appreciated. thanks, geoff sherwood burl!geoff <"take care of the luxuries and the necessities take care of themselves">