I skipped around a lot in learning C++ and in doing so, I didnt comprehend things as good as I should have. I decided to start over, well almost over. I was looking at cplusplus.com and in like the third section it talks about data types. I am having trouble understanding what something means. In the chart on the page it shows( the | just represent boxes):
Code:
| double | Double precision floating point number. | 8bytes | 1.7e +/- 308 (15 digits) |
What exactly does "1.7e +/- 308 (15 digits)" mean? More specificaly what does 1.7e mean? It also says 15 digits, does that just mean it can go 15 digits from 0 in either direction? Float and ong double are also like this.
I get the rest of the chart, but that part confuses me.
EDIT: I read ona little farther while waiting for an answer. I came across this:
Code:
They express numbers with decimals and/or exponents. They can include either a decimal point, an e
character (that expresses "by ten at the Xth height", where X is an integer value that follows the
e character), or both a decimal point and an e character:
After reading it, I think I know what e means now. Double( 1.7e +/- 308 ) would basically be 1.7 * 10 +/- 308. So its like...oh whats that called lol. Im thinkin exponents/ something else...hmmm...scientific notation. I honestly dont remember much about scientific notation, but thats what its making me think of. So, 1.7e +/- 308 is like the short way of writing out what 1.7 * 10 +/- 308? Stop me if im wrong lol.