Re:x2 Fixed precision numbers

Brazil had really ferocious inflation a few years back, and the financial community had tremendous difficulties in dealing with currency values. Basically they ran their computer programs and had to say "ok, this value of 123000 stored here, well really, you have to add 9 zeroes behind it to get the real value". By the time they had managed to fix the systems to represent currency in a meaningful way, inflation had made the figures run away again. (I wish I could find a reference to this story, it makes for fascinating reading from a programming perspective). update i.e. because of inflation, computer programs kept running up against limits of number representations.

A quick glance at a currency cross-rates page reveals that the current winner is the Turkish lira. You'll need about 1.6 million of them to buy a US dollar, and 1.7 million of them to buy a euro. Even a single lowly japanese yen will set you back about 13.7 thousand lira. And should you wish to acquire an ounce of platinum, better get out your wheelbarrow, because you'll have to muster up 1.1 billion lira.

Ok, I know, this doesn't mean anything except that Turkish currency must be printed with an awful lot of zeroes, but we're talking about 6-7 orders of magnitude, which makes your capacity to represent $90 trillion melt down to a mere 9 million bucks.

print@_{sort keys %_},$/if%_=split//,'= & *a?b:e\f/h^h!j+n,o@o;r$s-t%t#u'

Comment on Re:x2 Fixed precision numbers

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Re: Re:x2 Fixed precision numbers by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Feb 26, 2003 at 18:49 UTC
Which is why they had to withdraw the 10,000 and 5,000 Turkish lira coins from circulation. The metal was worth more than the face value, so people were exchanging larger denominations for smaller ones, melting them down and selling it for scrap value. I believe that is is also true that the banks refuse to handle quantites less that 10,000 at a time and simple round them out if they are present in a transaction. Quite why they have never simple revalued the denomination 10,000:1 I don't quite understand, maybe all the zeros make them feel rich:) BTW. If you've got a mere $9 billion going spare...:) ..and remember there are a lot of things monks are supposed to be but lazy is not one of them Examine what is said, not who speaks. 1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. 2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible 3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke.	[reply]

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Re: Re:x2 Fixed precision numbers
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Feb 26, 2003 at 18:49 UTC

Which is why they had to withdraw the 10,000 and 5,000 Turkish lira coins from circulation. The metal was worth more than the face value, so people were exchanging larger denominations for smaller ones, melting them down and selling it for scrap value.

I believe that is is also true that the banks refuse to handle quantites less that 10,000 at a time and simple round them out if they are present in a transaction.

Quite why they have never simple revalued the denomination 10,000:1 I don't quite understand, maybe all the zeros make them feel rich:)

BTW. If you've got a mere $9 billion going spare...:)

..and remember there are a lot of things monks are supposed to be but lazy is not one of them

Examine what is said, not who speaks.

1) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible
3) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke.

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