How to determine that 2.0 == (float) 2 in a front-end.

[Paul Koning]

>>>>> "Tim" == Tim Josling <tej@melbpc.org.au> writes:

 Tim> I have come across situations where for example 2.0 ** N where N
 Tim> > 240 was calculated by successive multiplications. This sort of
 Tim> calculation is common in net present value calculations, where
 Tim> you use binary search of Newton's method to zero in on the
 Tim> correct interest rate given a set of payments. This is terribly
 Tim> slow.

It shouldn't be all that slow if you remember that x**i can be done in
O(log2(i)) operations -- not O(i) operations.

	   paul