The storage and representation of numbers in a computer can lead to costly mistakes because of precision errors. When using floating point numbers, one must make sure that the correct number of digits is used in a calculation because rounding errors can produce values that lead to errors. Consider the floating point format, exponential format, and binary coded decimal (BCD).
Write a four to five page paper in which you:
- Analyze the floating point format in order to:
- Determine how floating point numbers are stored in memory.
- Discuss the ease or difficulty of manipulating and using floating point numbers in arithmetic calculations.
- Determine whether or not you believe that the floating point format is memory efficient. Provide a rationale to support your answer.
- Analyze the format used to store numbers using the binary coded decimal format. Determine whether the BCD format is more or less memory efficient than the floating point format.
- Compare and contrast the BCD format to the floating point format in terms of:
- precision
- performance in calculations
- memory usage
- Select the format (floating point format, binary coded decimal (BCD), or exponential format) that you would recommend for processing efficiency and explain why.
- Floating point numbers can introduce rounding errors in the banking industry, which may lead to financial benefit for the bank but not for the customer. Analyze the ethics of knowingly benefitting from rounding errors. Propose a plan on how the rounding error should be handled.
- Differentiate between the exponential format and the floating point format in terms of:
- format
- processing speed
- accuracy
- Use at least three quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.