From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID
	autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: f43e6,c7637cfdf68e766
X-Google-Attributes: gidf43e6,public
X-Google-Thread: 107079,c7637cfdf68e766
X-Google-Attributes: gid107079,public
X-Google-Thread: 103376,c7637cfdf68e766
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
X-Google-Thread: 109d8a,c7637cfdf68e766
X-Google-Attributes: gid109d8a,public
X-Google-Thread: f8362,c7637cfdf68e766
X-Google-Attributes: gidf8362,public
From: dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)
Subject: Re: floating point comparison
Date: 1997/08/03
Message-ID: <dewar.870621327@merv>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 262134747
References: <mheaney-ya023680002907972345420001@news.ni.net>
 <33DF6F43.6EEA4806@digicomp.com> <5rqehs$g1r$1@odin.cc.pdx.edu>
 <33E11967.4A30@nr.net> <33E214C3.311C@pseserv3.fw.hac.com>
 <Pine.SGI.3.95.970802235611.26834A-100000@shellx.best.com>
Organization: New York University
Newsgroups: 
 comp.lang.ada,sci.math.num-analysis,comp.software-eng,comp.theory,sci.math
Date: 1997-08-03T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


Brian says

<<But it is appropriate to assume some prerequisites, including some work in
numerical analysis. Unfortunately, many "computer science" students don't
like this material and manage to avoid it.
>>

NYU was one of the last schools to require all CS students to take a
numerical analysis course for a CS degree. But there were huge complaints
over a period of many years, and students indeed hated the course. So now
we are like other schools, most of our students graduate knowing nothing
about floating-point. 

I did in my Ada course try to at least make sure they were in the class
of "know not and know that they know not", but how successful I was
I don't know. It is certainly a common experience that people with no
background here keep asking for simple rules to make sure they use
fpt correctly -- sorry there aren't any!