Title
numeric_limits unclear on how to determine floating point types
Status
nad
Section
[numeric.limits.members]
Submitter
Steve Cleary

Created on 2000-01-28.00:00:00 last changed 163 months ago

Messages

Date: 2010-10-21.18:28:33

Rationale:

It is up to the implementor of a user define type to decide if it is a floating point type.

Date: 2000-01-28.00:00:00

In several places in [numeric.limits.members], a member is described as "Meaningful for all floating point types." However, no clear method of determining a floating point type is provided.

In [numeric.special], paragraph 1 states ". . . (for example, epsilon() is only meaningful if is_integer is false). . ." which suggests that a type is a floating point type if is_specialized is true and is_integer is false; however, this is unclear.

When clarifying this, please keep in mind this need of users: what exactly is the definition of floating point? Would a fixed point or rational representation be considered one? I guess my statement here is that there could also be types that are neither integer or (strictly) floating point.

History
Date User Action Args
2010-10-21 18:28:33adminsetmessages: + msg1851
2000-01-28 00:00:00admincreate