Re: [office-formula] 48 bits?

["David A. Wheeler" <dwheeler@dwheeler.com>]

Patrick Durusau:
> I can't speak to the "need" to handle exactly 53 bits but why create a 
> variation from IEEE 754's 64-bit representation for numbers?

There's *no* variation.  The text explains the implications of *using* the IEEE standard... we are NOT changing anything.

Many implementations do not support an infinite number of bits :-).  Therefore, it's useful to specify a range that *is* guaranteed to be supported.  Most people use IEEE 64-bit or better (e.g., 80-bit), and thus have at least 53 bits for the mantissa.  Thus, if you're using integers, 48 bits of significance is within a portable range.

--- David A. Wheeler