IEEE Arithmetic

This chapter discusses the arithmetic model specified by the ANSI/IEEE Standard 754-1985 for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic (“the IEEE standard” or “IEEE 754” for short). All SPARC^® and x86 processors use IEEE arithmetic. Oracle Solaris Studio compilers support the features of IEEE arithmetic. This chapter discusses the following topics:

• IEEE Arithmetic Model

• IEEE Formats

• Underflow

• IEEE Standard 754-2008