Fixed-point arithmetic
Computer format for representing real numbers
In computing, fixed-point is a method of representing fractional (non-integer) numbers by storing a fixed number of digits of their fractional part. Dollar amounts, for example, are often stored with exactly two fractional digits, representing the cents. More generally, the term may refer to representing fractional values as integer multiples of some fixed small unit, e.g., a fractional amount of hours as an integer multiple of ten-minute intervals. Fixed-point number representation is often contrasted to the more complicated and computationally demanding floating-point representation.
“Fixed-point arithmetic” enters the record as computer format for representing real numbers. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Fixed-point, arithmetic and Computer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fixed-point arithmetic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.