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Rick Marshall wrote:
> there are always accuracy issues
Indeed. Anyone reading this who hasn't been to the mat with actual
numerical calculations on a computer really needs to know that getting
it right is HARD and there are a million ways to do the obvious thing
but get the wrong answer. One of the great things about FORTRAN was
that the math libraries were *very* sophisticated and tried to save the
uninitiated from their own stupidity; and I speak as one whose stupidity
triumphed over them and once calculated a spectacularly wrong result
which got placed on the desk of a senior executive and had to be
apologized for; I still shudder thinking of it.
--
Cheers, Tim Bray
(ongoing fragmented essay: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/)
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