1Math::BigFloat(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Math::BigFloat(3)
2
6 Math::BigFloat - Arbitrary size floating point math package
7
9 use Math::BigFloat;
10 # Configuration methods (may be used as class methods and instance methods)
12 Math::BigFloat->accuracy(); # get class accuracy
14 Math::BigFloat->accuracy($n); # set class accuracy
15 Math::BigFloat->precision(); # get class precision
16 Math::BigFloat->precision($n); # set class precision
17 Math::BigFloat->round_mode(); # get class rounding mode
18 Math::BigFloat->round_mode($m); # set global round mode, must be one of
19 # 'even', 'odd', '+inf', '-inf', 'zero',
20 # 'trunc', or 'common'
21 Math::BigFloat->config("lib"); # name of backend math library
22 # Constructor methods (when the class methods below are used as instance
24 # methods, the value is assigned the invocand)
25 $x = Math::BigFloat->new($str); # defaults to 0
27 $x = Math::BigFloat->new('0x123'); # from hexadecimal
28 $x = Math::BigFloat->new('0b101'); # from binary
29 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_hex('0xc.afep+3'); # from hex
30 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_hex('cafe'); # ditto
31 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_oct('1.3267p-4'); # from octal
32 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_oct('0377'); # ditto
33 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_bin('0b1.1001p-4'); # from binary
34 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_bin('0101'); # ditto
35 $x = Math::BigFloat->from_ieee754($b, "binary64"); # from IEEE-754 bytes
36 $x = Math::BigFloat->bzero(); # create a +0
37 $x = Math::BigFloat->bone(); # create a +1
38 $x = Math::BigFloat->bone('-'); # create a -1
39 $x = Math::BigFloat->binf(); # create a +inf
40 $x = Math::BigFloat->binf('-'); # create a -inf
41 $x = Math::BigFloat->bnan(); # create a Not-A-Number
42 $x = Math::BigFloat->bpi(); # returns pi
43 $y = $x->copy(); # make a copy (unlike $y = $x)
45 $y = $x->as_int(); # return as BigInt
46 # Boolean methods (these don't modify the invocand)
48 $x->is_zero(); # if $x is 0
50 $x->is_one(); # if $x is +1
51 $x->is_one("+"); # ditto
52 $x->is_one("-"); # if $x is -1
53 $x->is_inf(); # if $x is +inf or -inf
54 $x->is_inf("+"); # if $x is +inf
55 $x->is_inf("-"); # if $x is -inf
56 $x->is_nan(); # if $x is NaN
57 $x->is_positive(); # if $x > 0
59 $x->is_pos(); # ditto
60 $x->is_negative(); # if $x < 0
61 $x->is_neg(); # ditto
62 $x->is_odd(); # if $x is odd
64 $x->is_even(); # if $x is even
65 $x->is_int(); # if $x is an integer
66 # Comparison methods
68 $x->bcmp($y); # compare numbers (undef, < 0, == 0, > 0)
70 $x->bacmp($y); # compare absolutely (undef, < 0, == 0, > 0)
71 $x->beq($y); # true if and only if $x == $y
72 $x->bne($y); # true if and only if $x != $y
73 $x->blt($y); # true if and only if $x < $y
74 $x->ble($y); # true if and only if $x <= $y
75 $x->bgt($y); # true if and only if $x > $y
76 $x->bge($y); # true if and only if $x >= $y
77 # Arithmetic methods
79 $x->bneg(); # negation
81 $x->babs(); # absolute value
82 $x->bsgn(); # sign function (-1, 0, 1, or NaN)
83 $x->bnorm(); # normalize (no-op)
84 $x->binc(); # increment $x by 1
85 $x->bdec(); # decrement $x by 1
86 $x->badd($y); # addition (add $y to $x)
87 $x->bsub($y); # subtraction (subtract $y from $x)
88 $x->bmul($y); # multiplication (multiply $x by $y)
89 $x->bmuladd($y,$z); # $x = $x * $y + $z
90 $x->bdiv($y); # division (floored), set $x to quotient
91 # return (quo,rem) or quo if scalar
92 $x->btdiv($y); # division (truncated), set $x to quotient
93 # return (quo,rem) or quo if scalar
94 $x->bmod($y); # modulus (x % y)
95 $x->btmod($y); # modulus (truncated)
96 $x->bmodinv($mod); # modular multiplicative inverse
97 $x->bmodpow($y,$mod); # modular exponentiation (($x ** $y) % $mod)
98 $x->bpow($y); # power of arguments (x ** y)
99 $x->blog(); # logarithm of $x to base e (Euler's number)
100 $x->blog($base); # logarithm of $x to base $base (e.g., base 2)
101 $x->bexp(); # calculate e ** $x where e is Euler's number
102 $x->bnok($y); # x over y (binomial coefficient n over k)
103 $x->bsin(); # sine
104 $x->bcos(); # cosine
105 $x->batan(); # inverse tangent
106 $x->batan2($y); # two-argument inverse tangent
107 $x->bsqrt(); # calculate square root
108 $x->broot($y); # $y'th root of $x (e.g. $y == 3 => cubic root)
109 $x->bfac(); # factorial of $x (1*2*3*4*..$x)
110 $x->blsft($n); # left shift $n places in base 2
112 $x->blsft($n,$b); # left shift $n places in base $b
113 # returns (quo,rem) or quo (scalar context)
114 $x->brsft($n); # right shift $n places in base 2
115 $x->brsft($n,$b); # right shift $n places in base $b
116 # returns (quo,rem) or quo (scalar context)
117 # Bitwise methods
119 $x->band($y); # bitwise and
121 $x->bior($y); # bitwise inclusive or
122 $x->bxor($y); # bitwise exclusive or
123 $x->bnot(); # bitwise not (two's complement)
124 # Rounding methods
126 $x->round($A,$P,$mode); # round to accuracy or precision using
127 # rounding mode $mode
128 $x->bround($n); # accuracy: preserve $n digits
129 $x->bfround($n); # $n > 0: round to $nth digit left of dec. point
130 # $n < 0: round to $nth digit right of dec. point
131 $x->bfloor(); # round towards minus infinity
132 $x->bceil(); # round towards plus infinity
133 $x->bint(); # round towards zero
134 # Other mathematical methods
136 $x->bgcd($y); # greatest common divisor
138 $x->blcm($y); # least common multiple
139 # Object property methods (do not modify the invocand)
141 $x->sign(); # the sign, either +, - or NaN
143 $x->digit($n); # the nth digit, counting from the right
144 $x->digit(-$n); # the nth digit, counting from the left
145 $x->length(); # return number of digits in number
146 ($xl,$f) = $x->length(); # length of number and length of fraction
147 # part, latter is always 0 digits long
148 # for Math::BigInt objects
149 $x->mantissa(); # return (signed) mantissa as BigInt
150 $x->exponent(); # return exponent as BigInt
151 $x->parts(); # return (mantissa,exponent) as BigInt
152 $x->sparts(); # mantissa and exponent (as integers)
153 $x->nparts(); # mantissa and exponent (normalised)
154 $x->eparts(); # mantissa and exponent (engineering notation)
155 $x->dparts(); # integer and fraction part
156 # Conversion methods (do not modify the invocand)
158 $x->bstr(); # decimal notation, possibly zero padded
160 $x->bsstr(); # string in scientific notation with integers
161 $x->bnstr(); # string in normalized notation
162 $x->bestr(); # string in engineering notation
163 $x->bdstr(); # string in decimal notation
164 $x->as_hex(); # as signed hexadecimal string with prefixed 0x
165 $x->as_bin(); # as signed binary string with prefixed 0b
166 $x->as_oct(); # as signed octal string with prefixed 0
167 $x->to_ieee754($format); # to bytes encoded according to IEEE 754-2008
168 # Other conversion methods
170 $x->numify(); # return as scalar (might overflow or underflow)
172
174 Math::BigFloat provides support for arbitrary precision floating point.
175 Overloading is also provided for Perl operators.
176 All operators (including basic math operations) are overloaded if you
178 declare your big floating point numbers as
179 $x = Math::BigFloat -> new('12_3.456_789_123_456_789E-2');
181 Operations with overloaded operators preserve the arguments, which is
183 exactly what you expect.
184 Input
186 Input values to these routines may be any scalar number or string that
187 looks like a number and represents a floating point number.
188 · Leading and trailing whitespace is ignored.
190 · Leading and trailing zeros are ignored.
192 · If the string has a "0x" prefix, it is interpreted as a hexadecimal
194 number.
195 · If the string has a "0b" prefix, it is interpreted as a binary
197 number.
198 · For hexadecimal and binary numbers, the exponent must be separated
200 from the significand (mantissa) by the letter "p" or "P", not "e"
201 or "E" as with decimal numbers.
202 · One underline is allowed between any two digits, including
204 hexadecimal and binary digits.
205 · If the string can not be interpreted, NaN is returned.
207 Octal numbers are typically prefixed by "0", but since leading zeros
209 are stripped, these methods can not automatically recognize octal
210 numbers, so use the constructor from_oct() to interpret octal strings.
211 Some examples of valid string input
213 Input string Resulting value
215 123 123
216 1.23e2 123
217 12300e-2 123
218 0xcafe 51966
219 0b1101 13
220 67_538_754 67538754
221 -4_5_6.7_8_9e+0_1_0 -4567890000000
222 0x1.921fb5p+1 3.14159262180328369140625e+0
223 0b1.1001p-4 9.765625e-2
224 Output
226 Output values are usually Math::BigFloat objects.
227 Boolean operators "is_zero()", "is_one()", "is_inf()", etc. return true
229 or false.
230 Comparison operators "bcmp()" and "bacmp()") return -1, 0, 1, or undef.
232
234 Math::BigFloat supports all methods that Math::BigInt supports, except
235 it calculates non-integer results when possible. Please see
236 Math::BigInt for a full description of each method. Below are just the
237 most important differences:
238 Configuration methods
240 accuracy()
241 $x->accuracy(5); # local for $x
242 CLASS->accuracy(5); # global for all members of CLASS
243 # Note: This also applies to new()!
244 $A = $x->accuracy(); # read out accuracy that affects $x
246 $A = CLASS->accuracy(); # read out global accuracy
247 Set or get the global or local accuracy, aka how many significant
249 digits the results have. If you set a global accuracy, then this
250 also applies to new()!
251 Warning! The accuracy sticks, e.g. once you created a number under
253 the influence of "CLASS->accuracy($A)", all results from math
254 operations with that number will also be rounded.
255 In most cases, you should probably round the results explicitly
257 using one of "round()" in Math::BigInt, "bround()" in Math::BigInt
258 or "bfround()" in Math::BigInt or by passing the desired accuracy
259 to the math operation as additional parameter:
260 my $x = Math::BigInt->new(30000);
262 my $y = Math::BigInt->new(7);
263 print scalar $x->copy()->bdiv($y, 2); # print 4300
264 print scalar $x->copy()->bdiv($y)->bround(2); # print 4300
265 precision()
267 $x->precision(-2); # local for $x, round at the second
268 # digit right of the dot
269 $x->precision(2); # ditto, round at the second digit
270 # left of the dot
271 CLASS->precision(5); # Global for all members of CLASS
273 # This also applies to new()!
274 CLASS->precision(-5); # ditto
275 $P = CLASS->precision(); # read out global precision
277 $P = $x->precision(); # read out precision that affects $x
278 Note: You probably want to use "accuracy()" instead. With
280 "accuracy()" you set the number of digits each result should have,
281 with "precision()" you set the place where to round!
282 Constructor methods
284 from_hex()
285 $x -> from_hex("0x1.921fb54442d18p+1");
286 $x = Math::BigFloat -> from_hex("0x1.921fb54442d18p+1");
287 Interpret input as a hexadecimal string.A prefix ("0x", "x",
289 ignoring case) is optional. A single underscore character ("_") may
290 be placed between any two digits. If the input is invalid, a NaN is
291 returned. The exponent is in base 2 using decimal digits.
292 If called as an instance method, the value is assigned to the
294 invocand.
295 from_oct()
297 $x -> from_oct("1.3267p-4");
298 $x = Math::BigFloat -> from_oct("1.3267p-4");
299 Interpret input as an octal string. A single underscore character
301 ("_") may be placed between any two digits. If the input is
302 invalid, a NaN is returned. The exponent is in base 2 using decimal
303 digits.
304 If called as an instance method, the value is assigned to the
306 invocand.
307 from_bin()
309 $x -> from_bin("0b1.1001p-4");
310 $x = Math::BigFloat -> from_bin("0b1.1001p-4");
311 Interpret input as a hexadecimal string. A prefix ("0b" or "b",
313 ignoring case) is optional. A single underscore character ("_") may
314 be placed between any two digits. If the input is invalid, a NaN is
315 returned. The exponent is in base 2 using decimal digits.
316 If called as an instance method, the value is assigned to the
318 invocand.
319 from_ieee754()
321 Interpret the input as a value encoded as described in
322 IEEE754-2008. The input can be given as a byte string, hex string
323 or binary string. The input is assumed to be in big-endian byte-
324 order.
325 # both $dbl and $mbf are 3.141592...
327 $bytes = "\x40\x09\x21\xfb\x54\x44\x2d\x18";
328 $dbl = unpack "d>", $bytes;
329 $mbf = Math::BigFloat -> from_ieee754($bytes, "binary64");
330 bpi()
332 print Math::BigFloat->bpi(100), "\n";
333 Calculate PI to N digits (including the 3 before the dot). The
335 result is rounded according to the current rounding mode, which
336 defaults to "even".
337 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
339 Arithmetic methods
341 bmuladd()
342 $x->bmuladd($y,$z);
343 Multiply $x by $y, and then add $z to the result.
345 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
347 bdiv()
349 $q = $x->bdiv($y);
350 ($q, $r) = $x->bdiv($y);
351 In scalar context, divides $x by $y and returns the result to the
353 given or default accuracy/precision. In list context, does floored
354 division (F-division), returning an integer $q and a remainder $r
355 so that $x = $q * $y + $r. The remainer (modulo) is equal to what
356 is returned by "$x->bmod($y)".
357 bmod()
359 $x->bmod($y);
360 Returns $x modulo $y. When $x is finite, and $y is finite and non-
362 zero, the result is identical to the remainder after floored
363 division (F-division). If, in addition, both $x and $y are
364 integers, the result is identical to the result from Perl's %
365 operator.
366 bexp()
368 $x->bexp($accuracy); # calculate e ** X
369 Calculates the expression "e ** $x" where "e" is Euler's number.
371 This method was added in v1.82 of Math::BigInt (April 2007).
373 bnok()
375 $x->bnok($y); # x over y (binomial coefficient n over k)
376 Calculates the binomial coefficient n over k, also called the
378 "choose" function. The result is equivalent to:
379 ( n ) n!
381 | - | = -------
382 ( k ) k!(n-k)!
383 This method was added in v1.84 of Math::BigInt (April 2007).
385 bsin()
387 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(1);
388 print $x->bsin(100), "\n";
389 Calculate the sinus of $x, modifying $x in place.
391 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
393 bcos()
395 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(1);
396 print $x->bcos(100), "\n";
397 Calculate the cosinus of $x, modifying $x in place.
399 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
401 batan()
403 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(1);
404 print $x->batan(100), "\n";
405 Calculate the arcus tanges of $x, modifying $x in place. See also
407 "batan2()".
408 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
410 batan2()
412 my $y = Math::BigFloat->new(2);
413 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(3);
414 print $y->batan2($x), "\n";
415 Calculate the arcus tanges of $y divided by $x, modifying $y in
417 place. See also "batan()".
418 This method was added in v1.87 of Math::BigInt (June 2007).
420 as_float()
422 This method is called when Math::BigFloat encounters an object it
423 doesn't know how to handle. For instance, assume $x is a
424 Math::BigFloat, or subclass thereof, and $y is defined, but not a
425 Math::BigFloat, or subclass thereof. If you do
426 $x -> badd($y);
428 $y needs to be converted into an object that $x can deal with. This
430 is done by first checking if $y is something that $x might be
431 upgraded to. If that is the case, no further attempts are made. The
432 next is to see if $y supports the method "as_float()". The method
433 "as_float()" is expected to return either an object that has the
434 same class as $x, a subclass thereof, or a string that
435 "ref($x)->new()" can parse to create an object.
436 In Math::BigFloat, "as_float()" has the same effect as "copy()".
438 to_ieee754()
440 Encodes the invocand as a byte string in the given format as
441 specified in IEEE 754-2008. Note that the encoded value is the
442 nearest possible representation of the value. This value might not
443 be exactly the same as the value in the invocand.
444 # $x = 3.1415926535897932385
446 $x = Math::BigFloat -> bpi(30);
447 $b = $x -> to_ieee754("binary64"); # encode as 8 bytes
449 $h = unpack "H*", $b; # "400921fb54442d18"
450 # 3.141592653589793115997963...
452 $y = Math::BigFloat -> from_ieee754($h, "binary64");
453 All binary formats in IEEE 754-2008 are accepted. For convenience,
455 som aliases are recognized: "half" for "binary16", "single" for
456 "binary32", "double" for "binary64", "quadruple" for "binary128",
457 "octuple" for "binary256", and "sexdecuple" for "binary512".
458 See also <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_754>.
460 ACCURACY AND PRECISION
462 See also: Rounding.
463 Math::BigFloat supports both precision (rounding to a certain place
465 before or after the dot) and accuracy (rounding to a certain number of
466 digits). For a full documentation, examples and tips on these topics
467 please see the large section about rounding in Math::BigInt.
468 Since things like sqrt(2) or "1 / 3" must presented with a limited
470 accuracy lest a operation consumes all resources, each operation
471 produces no more than the requested number of digits.
472 If there is no global precision or accuracy set, and the operation in
474 question was not called with a requested precision or accuracy, and the
475 input $x has no accuracy or precision set, then a fallback parameter
476 will be used. For historical reasons, it is called "div_scale" and can
477 be accessed via:
478 $d = Math::BigFloat->div_scale(); # query
480 Math::BigFloat->div_scale($n); # set to $n digits
481 The default value for "div_scale" is 40.
483 In case the result of one operation has more digits than specified, it
485 is rounded. The rounding mode taken is either the default mode, or the
486 one supplied to the operation after the scale:
487 $x = Math::BigFloat->new(2);
489 Math::BigFloat->accuracy(5); # 5 digits max
490 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3); # gives 0.66667
491 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3,6); # gives 0.666667
492 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3,6,undef,'odd'); # gives 0.666667
493 Math::BigFloat->round_mode('zero');
494 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3,6); # will also give 0.666667
495 Note that "Math::BigFloat->accuracy()" and
497 "Math::BigFloat->precision()" set the global variables, and thus any
498 newly created number will be subject to the global rounding
499 immediately. This means that in the examples above, the 3 as argument
500 to "bdiv()" will also get an accuracy of 5.
501 It is less confusing to either calculate the result fully, and
503 afterwards round it explicitly, or use the additional parameters to the
504 math functions like so:
505 use Math::BigFloat;
507 $x = Math::BigFloat->new(2);
508 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3);
509 print $y->bround(5),"\n"; # gives 0.66667
510 or
512 use Math::BigFloat;
514 $x = Math::BigFloat->new(2);
515 $y = $x->copy()->bdiv(3,5); # gives 0.66667
516 print "$y\n";
517 Rounding
519 bfround ( +$scale )
520 Rounds to the $scale'th place left from the '.', counting from the
521 dot. The first digit is numbered 1.
522 bfround ( -$scale )
524 Rounds to the $scale'th place right from the '.', counting from the
525 dot.
526 bfround ( 0 )
528 Rounds to an integer.
529 bround ( +$scale )
531 Preserves accuracy to $scale digits from the left (aka significant
532 digits) and pads the rest with zeros. If the number is between 1
533 and -1, the significant digits count from the first non-zero after
534 the '.'
535 bround ( -$scale ) and bround ( 0 )
537 These are effectively no-ops.
538 All rounding functions take as a second parameter a rounding mode from
540 one of the following: 'even', 'odd', '+inf', '-inf', 'zero', 'trunc' or
541 'common'.
542 The default rounding mode is 'even'. By using
544 "Math::BigFloat->round_mode($round_mode);" you can get and set the
545 default mode for subsequent rounding. The usage of
546 "$Math::BigFloat::$round_mode" is no longer supported. The second
547 parameter to the round functions then overrides the default
548 temporarily.
549 The "as_number()" function returns a BigInt from a Math::BigFloat. It
551 uses 'trunc' as rounding mode to make it equivalent to:
552 $x = 2.5;
554 $y = int($x) + 2;
555 You can override this by passing the desired rounding mode as parameter
557 to "as_number()":
558 $x = Math::BigFloat->new(2.5);
560 $y = $x->as_number('odd'); # $y = 3
561
563 After "use Math::BigFloat ':constant'" all the floating point constants
564 in the given scope are converted to "Math::BigFloat". This conversion
565 happens at compile time.
566 In particular
568 perl -MMath::BigFloat=:constant -e 'print 2E-100,"\n"'
570 prints the value of "2E-100". Note that without conversion of constants
572 the expression 2E-100 will be calculated as normal floating point
573 number.
574 Please note that ':constant' does not affect integer constants, nor
576 binary nor hexadecimal constants. Use bignum or Math::BigInt to get
577 this to work.
578 Math library
580 Math with the numbers is done (by default) by a module called
581 Math::BigInt::Calc. This is equivalent to saying:
582 use Math::BigFloat lib => 'Calc';
584 You can change this by using:
586 use Math::BigFloat lib => 'GMP';
588 Note: General purpose packages should not be explicit about the library
590 to use; let the script author decide which is best.
591 Note: The keyword 'lib' will warn when the requested library could not
593 be loaded. To suppress the warning use 'try' instead:
594 use Math::BigFloat try => 'GMP';
596 If your script works with huge numbers and Calc is too slow for them,
598 you can also for the loading of one of these libraries and if none of
599 them can be used, the code will die:
600 use Math::BigFloat only => 'GMP,Pari';
602 The following would first try to find Math::BigInt::Foo, then
604 Math::BigInt::Bar, and when this also fails, revert to
605 Math::BigInt::Calc:
606 use Math::BigFloat lib => 'Foo,Math::BigInt::Bar';
608 See the respective low-level library documentation for further details.
610 Please note that Math::BigFloat does not use the denoted library
612 itself, but it merely passes the lib argument to Math::BigInt. So,
613 instead of the need to do:
614 use Math::BigInt lib => 'GMP';
616 use Math::BigFloat;
617 you can roll it all into one line:
619 use Math::BigFloat lib => 'GMP';
621 It is also possible to just require Math::BigFloat:
623 require Math::BigFloat;
625 This will load the necessary things (like BigInt) when they are needed,
627 and automatically.
628 See Math::BigInt for more details than you ever wanted to know about
630 using a different low-level library.
631 Using Math::BigInt::Lite
633 For backwards compatibility reasons it is still possible to request a
634 different storage class for use with Math::BigFloat:
635 use Math::BigFloat with => 'Math::BigInt::Lite';
637 However, this request is ignored, as the current code now uses the low-
639 level math library for directly storing the number parts.
640
642 "Math::BigFloat" exports nothing by default, but can export the "bpi()"
643 method:
644 use Math::BigFloat qw/bpi/;
646 print bpi(10), "\n";
648
650 Do not try to be clever to insert some operations in between switching
651 libraries:
652 require Math::BigFloat;
654 my $matter = Math::BigFloat->bone() + 4; # load BigInt and Calc
655 Math::BigFloat->import( lib => 'Pari' ); # load Pari, too
656 my $anti_matter = Math::BigFloat->bone()+4; # now use Pari
657 This will create objects with numbers stored in two different backend
659 libraries, and VERY BAD THINGS will happen when you use these together:
660 my $flash_and_bang = $matter + $anti_matter; # Don't do this!
662 stringify, bstr()
664 Both stringify and bstr() now drop the leading '+'. The old code
665 would return '+1.23', the new returns '1.23'. See the documentation
666 in Math::BigInt for reasoning and details.
667 brsft()
669 The following will probably not print what you expect:
670 my $c = Math::BigFloat->new('3.14159');
672 print $c->brsft(3,10),"\n"; # prints 0.00314153.1415
673 It prints both quotient and remainder, since print calls "brsft()"
675 in list context. Also, "$c->brsft()" will modify $c, so be careful.
676 You probably want to use
677 print scalar $c->copy()->brsft(3,10),"\n";
679 # or if you really want to modify $c
680 print scalar $c->brsft(3,10),"\n";
681 instead.
683 Modifying and =
685 Beware of:
686 $x = Math::BigFloat->new(5);
688 $y = $x;
689 It will not do what you think, e.g. making a copy of $x. Instead it
691 just makes a second reference to the same object and stores it in
692 $y. Thus anything that modifies $x will modify $y (except
693 overloaded math operators), and vice versa. See Math::BigInt for
694 details and how to avoid that.
695 precision() vs. accuracy()
697 A common pitfall is to use "precision()" when you want to round a
698 result to a certain number of digits:
699 use Math::BigFloat;
701 Math::BigFloat->precision(4); # does not do what you
703 # think it does
704 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(12345); # rounds $x to "12000"!
705 print "$x\n"; # print "12000"
706 my $y = Math::BigFloat->new(3); # rounds $y to "0"!
707 print "$y\n"; # print "0"
708 $z = $x / $y; # 12000 / 0 => NaN!
709 print "$z\n";
710 print $z->precision(),"\n"; # 4
711 Replacing "precision()" with "accuracy()" is probably not what you
713 want, either:
714 use Math::BigFloat;
716 Math::BigFloat->accuracy(4); # enables global rounding:
718 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(123456); # rounded immediately
719 # to "12350"
720 print "$x\n"; # print "123500"
721 my $y = Math::BigFloat->new(3); # rounded to "3
722 print "$y\n"; # print "3"
723 print $z = $x->copy()->bdiv($y),"\n"; # 41170
724 print $z->accuracy(),"\n"; # 4
725 What you want to use instead is:
727 use Math::BigFloat;
729 my $x = Math::BigFloat->new(123456); # no rounding
731 print "$x\n"; # print "123456"
732 my $y = Math::BigFloat->new(3); # no rounding
733 print "$y\n"; # print "3"
734 print $z = $x->copy()->bdiv($y,4),"\n"; # 41150
735 print $z->accuracy(),"\n"; # undef
736 In addition to computing what you expected, the last example also
738 does not "taint" the result with an accuracy or precision setting,
739 which would influence any further operation.
740
742 Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-math-bigint at
743 rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
744 <https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Create.html?Queue=Math-BigInt> (requires
745 login). We will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified
746 of progress on your bug as I make changes.
747
749 You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.
750 perldoc Math::BigFloat
752 You can also look for information at:
754 · RT: CPAN's request tracker
756 <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Math-BigInt>
758 · AnnoCPAN: Annotated CPAN documentation
760 <http://annocpan.org/dist/Math-BigInt>
762 · CPAN Ratings
764 <https://cpanratings.perl.org/dist/Math-BigInt>
766 · MetaCPAN
768 <https://metacpan.org/release/Math-BigInt>
770 · CPAN Testers Matrix
772 <http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Math-BigInt>
774 · The Bignum mailing list
776 · Post to mailing list
778 "bignum at lists.scsys.co.uk"
780 · View mailing list
782 <http://lists.scsys.co.uk/pipermail/bignum/>
784 · Subscribe/Unsubscribe
786 <http://lists.scsys.co.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/bignum>
788
790 This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
791 under the same terms as Perl itself.
792
794 Math::BigFloat and Math::BigInt as well as the backends
795 Math::BigInt::FastCalc, Math::BigInt::GMP, and Math::BigInt::Pari.
796 The pragmas bignum, bigint and bigrat also might be of interest because
798 they solve the autoupgrading/downgrading issue, at least partly.
799
801 · Mark Biggar, overloaded interface by Ilya Zakharevich, 1996-2001.
802 · Completely rewritten by Tels <http://bloodgate.com> in 2001-2008.
804 · Florian Ragwitz <flora@cpan.org>, 2010.
806 · Peter John Acklam <pjacklam@online.no>, 2011-.
808perl v5.30.1 2020-01-30 Math::BigFloat(3)