floating-point

programming A number representation consisting of a

mantissa, M, an exponent, E, and an (assumed) radix (or

"base") . The number represented is M*R^E where R is the

radix - usually ten but sometimes 2.

Many different representations are used for the mantissa and

exponent themselves. The IEEE specify a standard

representation which is used by many hardware floating-point

systems.

See also floating-point accelerator, floating-point unit.

Normalisation is the process of converting a floating point

number into canonical form where any number other than zero

has a mantissa whose first digit is non-zero.

Opposite: fixed-point.

(1995-03-21)