I was wondering if it is really stored as a float.

your explanation with limited number of digits is good ( I was thinking of that), but should include rounding!

> In many cases, you will not notice the difference, Perl will just "do what I mean". But sometimes, you'll be surprised. String to float and back isn't always free.

Plz, can you give me an example?

UPDATE: Never mind, see update to Re: substitution "0" in decimals!