; the binary floating-point representation is 
. This manual discusses CommonPoint facilities for operating on floating-point values.
Floating-point numbers abound in the CommonPoint system. For example, the graphics systems use floating-point values for coordinates and measurements in their interfaces, and they use floating-point arithmetic to render curves and surfaces.
If your application performs scientific, financial, or business calculations, you need the facilities discussed in this manual. But even applications of a less numerical nature may require some floating point computation. For example, using a scale factor such as 1/3 and displaying floating-point values as decimal numbers involve the rounding to produce approximate results.
Floating-point operations are inherently imprecise--most computed values are only approximate. Although the analysis of large-scale computations is a subtle business, operation by operation, the CommonPoint system nearly always delivers the best possible results.
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