Talk:Extreme floating point values: Difference between revisions
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::We are of differing opinion; on the web!
::So many languages have grown up with IEEE 754 support as standard. It is good to know a little more about languages that could support differing FP representations (and that might still be asked to do that on current hardware). --[[User:Paddy3118|Paddy3118]] ([[User talk:Paddy3118|talk]]) 19:16, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Most standardized languages assume as little as possible about the floating-point representation (Fortran, C, Ada for instance). Most scripting languages make no specific assumption and take the C mlib for granted. Actually, except Java, I know no language that explicitly states that FP must follow the IEEE 754 standard (and it's not mandatory either in Java). Thus, almost all languages "can support differing FP representation". However, it is very interesting to have an account of historical machines (and not only about FP). But here it's buried in a task that is only slightly related, in a specific language although we are talking about the machines. It would be better to have a good explanation on a separate page, as it's absolutely not specific to one language. Even in the old days, Fortran was never alone - though it was certainly the main language for number crunching. Regarding Fortran entries in general: one contributor enjoys giving many details about defunct machines, and this is sad because, again, it's not about Fortran, and also it gives the impression that Fortran is defunct too. But it's wrong: there have been four ISO standards since Fortran 77, and the fifth is about to be published. Historical details about obscure functionality of antiquated compilers may be interesting, but details about how to write good programs in Fortran 2008 (or Fortran 2018) would be even more interesting, if we assume those who come on RC wants to learn usable material. [[User:Eoraptor|Eoraptor]] ([[User talk:Eoraptor|talk]]) 07:41, 18 April 2018 (UTC)
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