Re: On writing negative zero - with or without sign

In article <1184572698.921310.254810@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Terence <tbwright@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If a real value very close to zero has to be expressed in a limited
number of fractional digits, but these digits are all zeroes after the
decimal point, then the appropriate sign should be prefixed to the
values to indicate which side of absolute zero the values lies.

This is the basis of the problems. There is a way to designate -0.0
in this way (by using the sign bit), but there is no way to
designate a +0.0 in this way that is distinct from the actual 0.0.

If, in hardware, there were a way to designate and differentiate
-0.0, 0.0, and +0.0, then there would be no problems, everyone would
know what the three values mean.

$.02 -Ron Shepard
.