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Why Do Computers Suck at Math?

codinghorror.com — 399 999 999 999 999 - 399 999 999 999 998 = 0. Google can't be wrong -- math is! But Google is hardly alone; this is just another example in a long and storied history of obscure little computer math errors that go way back

Who dugg this? Made popular May 15, 2009

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  • Topher06, on 05/14/2009, -6/+445Its why I am not worried about Skynet, cause they will assume they wiped out all humans, but leave 1 behind.
  • Kuci06, on 05/14/2009, -23/+354...cause computers were made by humans. who suck at math

    duh
  • bittermang, on 05/14/2009, -2/+205Because calculating floating point values doesn't always offer precision.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_point#Accura ...
  • Akaricloud, on 05/15/2009, -2/+170Clearly its gonna be a pregnant woman left alive, the fetus will be a boy.

    Awwwww yeahhhhh.
  • MokaPot, on 05/15/2009, -3/+118Can you feel it? it's the warm dusty retro smell of 2007's Digg.
  • ATL, on 06/20/2009, -1/+116GAH I wish I didn't see what you did there.
  • 2Six119, on 09/10/2009, -3/+89because they're meant for porn
  • Solkre, on 05/15/2009, -2/+83calc in Vista gets that right.
  • Nickedynick, on 05/15/2009, -2/+83Leaving aside the issue of gambling on being the last person alive: What use is a single human?!
  • Tiak, on 05/15/2009, -8/+81http://www.xkcd.com/217/
  • inactive, on 05/15/2009, -3/+71Stop using Digg as a testing area for your crappy poetry.
  • inactive, on 05/15/2009, -4/+70To make a crappy Twilight Zone episode about.
  • coolgangsta, on 05/15/2009, -1/+65Unless that one human can reproduce asexually then that's still a problem.

    Yeah, I sucked the fun out of it.
  • footbag01, on 05/15/2009, -9/+69The problem lies somewhere between the monitor and chair.
  • Phil13, on 05/15/2009, -0/+54Could be the last woman on earth who happens to stumble upon a functional sperm bank freezer.
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 05/15/2009, -0/+53the keyboard?
  • fadetoone, on 05/15/2009, -1/+52I like the irony of "why do computers suck at math" when computers really only do math...
  • pt4117, on 05/15/2009, -1/+49It was a bug in 3.0. I'd hope that it'd be fixed by now.
  • zeabu, on 05/15/2009, -0/+46rchargel: If she can pop 'em out fast enough, and those kids (if girl) also use that bank, diversity would not be a problem.
  • Faasnat, on 05/15/2009, -4/+48"isn't a fetus also a human..?"

    That's the ongoing debate...
  • Hurricane, on 05/15/2009, -0/+41Google has spoken, 1 = 0, now everybody get over it and shut up.
  • JQP123, on 05/15/2009, -8/+45Real numbers are infinite
    Computer memory is finite
    Most people don't understand the difference

    Therein lies the problem.
  • hinesh, on 05/15/2009, -0/+37why do we suck at programming
  • Phil13, on 05/15/2009, -0/+34Obviously it is the desk's fault.
  • Akaricloud, on 05/15/2009, -0/+30I recommend completely shutting down google and all of its related services until this problem is solved.

    Its the logical thing to do.
  • fitzal77, on 05/15/2009, -0/+30That's thinking inside the box!
  • Tiak, on 05/15/2009, -1/+29...The problem isn't "converting between binary and decimal", that is a simple matter of parsing input that is extremely hard to do wrong because there are already basic low-level functions to do it for everyone in every operating system in existance.

    The problem is that in the Google example, there are some of those spooky floating point numbers you spoke of in use. Floating point numbersh have limitations in how accurately they can store numbers by design because it allows them to store wider ranges of numbers...

    Basically a floating point number works like scientific notation for the same reasons (to conserve space used for writing numbers that could be rather large or small). If you need more accuracy (more significant digits), then you can use more space to write it down (a larger type of float which uses more memory) or just write down the entire number (use integers). Google doesn't seem to think that the tiny bits of extra computing power necessary to work with more significant digits are worth having their calculator tool slightly more accurate in cases that almost never come up in normal use.
  • diggystardust, on 05/15/2009, -1/+29An asexual John Connor
  • jgtg32a, on 05/15/2009, -0/+25excuse me "crappy Twilight Zone," are you crazy Time Enough at Last was a great episode
  • indyhouse, on 05/15/2009, -6/+29The calc built into OS X Spotlight gets that right, too.
  • MonoDede, on 05/15/2009, -0/+23Incest? Moar liek WINcest!!
  • rblancarte, on 05/15/2009, -0/+21It is a limit of our current numerical formats (integers, floating point, etc), if you want better math, write your own.

    As a coder, you should know, computers only do math as well as they are programmed.
  • inactive, on 05/15/2009, -4/+25Planned obsolescence. When Joe Six-pack needs to crunch high-precision numbers for his flying car operations he is going to have to upgrade his 386, and that's where they get you.
  • ivan423, on 05/15/2009, -3/+24ha ha Computers are stupid. All they know is on and off.
  • MikeSD34, on 05/15/2009, -0/+21But there was time now!
  • skate3214, on 05/15/2009, -2/+21Same in Windows 7.
  • moduc, on 05/15/2009, -4/+23"Why Do Computers Suck at Math?"

    You're the one who suck at math. Computers are design with that constraint for fast processing. If you want unlimited length (arbitrary length) arithmetic, you can do that inside computer too. Just don't use a hammer to pull your teeth and say why hammer is suck at pulling teeth.

    People often posted on Digg with title like: why .... Is it true in the first place, before trying to answer the question. If you're addicted to "why",
    Here are some "whys" for you to chew on:

    why are you so dumb?
    why you can't get hot chick?
    why you hate computer?
    why didn't you eat today?
    why people hate you?
  • sumguy231, on 05/15/2009, -0/+17Pssh, how hard can asexual reproduction be? I'm sure I can learn in like, 5 minutes. If I wanted to of course.
  • lynx44, on 05/15/2009, -4/+21850*77.1 works fine for me in Excel 2007
  • beautifulbeast, on 05/15/2009, -2/+19Same in Ubuntu.
  • shoyurx, on 05/15/2009, -0/+16That's funny, I say the same thing about your mom.
  • asskicker32, on 05/15/2009, -0/+15he said asexual not *****
  • diggB, on 05/15/2009, -0/+15The computational software program Mathematica by Wolfram features arbitrary precision limited only by memory as well as more fun kick-ass math features than you could throw a stick at.
  • glockman69, on 05/15/2009, -1/+15PEBKAC
  • Gryffydd, on 05/15/2009, -1/+15I was just thinking the same thing. I thought I'd gone to /. for a second.
  • canthraxp, on 05/15/2009, -0/+13That is so wrong... Dugg.
  • BoneStamp, on 05/15/2009, -1/+14Interesting, I just assumed Samir and Michael Bolton got jobs at Google.
  • Chuckanut, on 05/15/2009, -1/+14That's why Christian Bale was perfect for the role.
  • lucasftw, on 05/15/2009, -1/+14THIS JUST IN: FLOATS SUCK!

    seriously, news?
  • inactive, on 05/15/2009, -0/+12Hotfixes FTW :p
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