what do we gain by using machine-precision floating point as our default numeric representation?

I just watched an HD movie on my PC. In the 105 minutes of runtime, approximately 100 billion calculations are performed.

If these calculations were done using bigint, then the movie would take 34.5 days to watch...

cmpthese -1, {
    a=>q[my $t=0; $t *= $_ for 1 .. 1e3;], 
    b=>q[use bigint; my $t=0; $t *= $_ for 1 .. 1e3 ] 
};;
     Rate      b      a
b  23.8/s     --  -100%
a 11263/s 47292%     --

[download]

I'm more than happy to have to consider the limitations of native machine precision.

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

In reply to Re^3: rsFalse can't make some easy arithmetics :) by BrowserUk
in thread Perl can't make some easy arithmetics :( by rsFalse

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