Floating-Point Computation on Suns

[David Hough]

I just went through a visit with a customer who complained bitterly about
the quality of our math library and then admitted that he hadn't read or
even opened the shrink wrap on the Floating-Point Programmer's Guide in
the SunOS 4.0 document crate.  This is too bad; he might have found some
useful information there.

Some recent sunspots postings suggest this customer is not unique.  If you
want to get the most out of a floating-point-intensive computation on a
Sun, it would be an excellent idea to read the Floating-Point Programmer's
Guide, part number 800-1552-10.  It was written for SunOS 3.1 but most of
the information is still relevant.  And don't forget to also read the
addendum for SunOS 4.0 which is contained in part number 800-1789-10 which
has the somewhat misleading title "Software READ THIS FIRST Programmer's
Guides Minibox".  That addendum was kluged together at the last minute
when it became clear that I wouldn't have time for a complete rewrite for
4.0.  It's not as comprehensive but the information density is high.

Once again I have promised a complete rewrite for 4.1.  In the hope that I
will fulfill the promise, I'd get glad to hear comments from anybody who's
looked over the existing documentation.

David Hough 					dgh at sun.com