Lesson plan

Binary integer decimal

The IEEE 754-2008 standard includes decimal floating-point number formats in which the significand and the exponent (and the payloads of NaNs) can be encoded in two ways, referred to as binary encoding and decimal encoding. Both formats break a number down into a sign bit s, an exponent q (between q min and q max ), and a p-digit significand c (between 0 and 10 p −1). The value encoded is (−1) s ×10 q ×c. In both formats the range of possible values is identical, but they differ in how the significand c is represented. In the decimal encoding, it is encoded as a series of p decimal digits (using the densely packed decimal (DPD) encoding), while in the binary integer decimal (BID) encoding, it is encoded as a binary number.

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Article summary

The IEEE 754-2008 standard includes decimal floating-point number formats in which the significand and the exponent (and the payloads of NaNs) can be encoded in two ways, referred to as binary encoding and decimal encoding. Both formats break a number down into a sign bit s, an exponent q (between q min and q max ), and a p-digit significand c (between 0 and 10 p −1). The value encoded is (−1) s ×10 q ×c. In both formats the range of possible values is identical, but they differ in how the significand c is represented. In the decimal encoding, it is encoded as a series of p decimal digits (using the densely packed decimal (DPD) encoding), while in the binary integer decimal (BID) encoding, it is encoded as a binary number.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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