[Cfp-interest 2219] Re: quantum

[Mike Cowlishaw]

Maybe we're talking at cross-purposes, here. 

> > > but ditto with the quantum (which also depends on the 
> > > representation).
> > 
> > I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'representation' here.
> 
> The meaning from the IEEE 754 standard:
> 
>   Level 3  (sign, exponent, significand) ? ...  Representations of
>                                                 floating-point data.
> 
> > The quantum of a floating-point number only depends on its 
> > radix and exponent, not on how it is depicted.
> 
> But the exponent depends on the representation (see above).

I would interpret that line as a definition of 'Level 3' in column 2,
followed by a 'plain English' description of what the level is.  So, to me,
a representation of a (finite) number is its sign, exponent, and
significant.  That is, the representation depends on the exponent (and hence
the quantum), not the other way around.

Mike