[Coco] High precision math, fractals, and Mandelbrot

[jdaggett at gate.net]

Robert

BAsic09 does not use IEEE floating point standard. Instead is mimics the 
same format as in RSBASIC. It is about 2 decimal digits more precise than 
IEEE 754 Single precission.  It is limited to the precision of 2^-31 or steps of 
~ 0.0000000005, 10 decimal digits. I would imagine that if IEEE 754 Double 
precision or even extended double precission to at least 80 bits would be 
sufficient for that application. 


james
On 24 Jul 2006 at 7:58, Robert Gault wrote:

> Not too long ago there was a thread on the need for narrow range high 
> precision floating point numbers. I mentioned one use for such 
> capability, the Mandelbrot set, which left many readers wondering to 
> what I was referring.
> 
> Well here is a low res image of the numbers in the complex number plane 
> clustered around 0,0. The image is from a Basic09 program on a low res 
> vdg screen (PMODE equivalent). When the window is shrunk and looks at 
> areas along the edge of the figure, the patterns get more and more 
> complex. The floating point numbers on the Coco can expand the pattern 
> just so far before lack of precision limits the process.
> 
> 
>