On Nov 17, 1:04 am, Doug McDonald <mcdonald@SnPoAM_scs.uiuc.edu> wrote: > > Java specifies > a specific float formant that is incompatible with the 80x86, > a major, major, major problem. So big that strict Java is > in fact useless for 99.5% of the computers in the world. Are you sure about this? The Java spec <http://java.sun.com/docs/books/ jls/third_edition/html/typesValues.html#4.2.3> seems to dictate the use of IEEE-754, which is exactly what is used in the 80x87 <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8087>. No doubt the endian-ness is different, but I'm quite certain it's optimized away internally, just like it is for integers. Also, the Java Math docs <http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/ lang/Math.html> recommend implementations use "native libraries or microprocessor instructions". I will admit that the strict math library will be slow, as it is specified to use a float-point library written in C, but Java is giving you a choice: use the regular library for speed, or choose to use the strict library when you must have bit-identical calculations no matter on what platform your software ends up running. Andrew