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authorMichael G. Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>2001-05-29 19:51:32 +0100
committerJarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>2001-05-29 20:13:54 +0000
commit1affb2ee4597bbf287e792c440907d25929aff2e (patch)
tree83b87f0b89211ac4ed9c1c5c82b5f249cd8c89b7 /pod/perlfaq4.pod
parentf1c689a86c4d291fc38042ab6974540507ad0175 (diff)
downloadperl-1affb2ee4597bbf287e792c440907d25929aff2e.tar.gz
Example of working in integers to avoid floating point errors
Message-ID: <20010529185132.C706@blackrider.blackstar.co.uk> p4raw-id: //depot/perl@10301
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diff --git a/pod/perlfaq4.pod b/pod/perlfaq4.pod
index 069340dabd..87fd66a777 100644
--- a/pod/perlfaq4.pod
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@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ arbitrary-precision decimal numbers with the Math::BigFloat module
(part of the standard Perl distribution), but mathematical operations
are consequently slower.
+If precision is important, such as when dealing with money, its good
+to work with integers and then divide at the last possible moment.
+For example, work in pennies (1995) instead of dollars and cents
+(19.95) and divide by 100 at the end.
+
To get rid of the superfluous digits, just use a format (eg,
C<printf("%.2f", 19.95)>) to get the required precision.
See L<perlop/"Floating-point Arithmetic">.