by Moose or Chuck » Apr 23, 2001 @ 2:56am
Floating points are "as opposed to" integers. Integers are any whole number, such as 1, 27, 93, 65536. A floating point number can be anythign with a decimal point, such as 1.00032, 27.9, 93.786, 65536.738231089735017690146139481637<br>As you can see calculating a floating point number, a number without a predetermined amount of digits, can take a whole lot longer than integer calculation. Computers first possessed floating point co-processors in the days of the Pentium processor. That's why it was such a leap. PocketPCs don't have these co-processors and must do the calculations slowly in software mode. Floating points are extremely easy to work with in a 3D Program because of their exacting precision and accuracy. An integer can not come close to the precision of a floating point. However, a seperate type of numbering system, inbetween the two, is being used by Dan East to optimised the Quake code for greater speed on a PocketPC. This type is called Fixed Point, where a number can not go past... say, 3 digits past the decimal. You could have a number like 65.536, 0.345, or 7.452. These are still precise, but maintain the fixed amount of digits that is so attractive about integer whole numbers.Last modification: Moose Master - 04/22/01 at 23:56:48