Maths Output

[Frankie Chee]

Hi all,
I am a student and am new to programming, I would like to ask a simple question about the output of the following:
class calculation
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int x=10;
int y=20;
float z=25.98f;
System.out.println(z/y);
System.out.println(z-y);
}
}
Output:
1.299
5.92999
My question is for z-y why is the output with so many decimal places when my calculator shows an output of 5.98?

[John Smith]

Output:
1.299
5.92999

I seriously doubt that. Maybe your JVM was written by Microsoft?

[chi Lin]

output from my system.

1.299
5.9799995

[Frankie Chee]

Chi Lin, yours have more decimal places than mine!

[Frankie Chee]

How do I check if my JVM is written by microsoft?

I downloaded it from http://java.sun.com.

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

It's not a problem with the JVM. It has to do with how floating point is stored. It is never precise.

[Dirk Schreckmann]

The mechanism for representing floating point numbers with a limited number of binary digits that Marilyn referred to is the IEEE 754 Floating Point Standard. Take a look at What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating Point Arithmetic.
[ November 18, 2003: Message edited by: Dirk Schreckmann ]