Who first said, "If you think floating point is the answer, you don't understand the problem."

Asked Mar 28 '17 at 16:43

Active Mar 28 '17 at 16:43

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I had a C (programming language) teacher at the Lowell Institute at MIT who said this in the Spring of 1996. It's an overstatement, but still seems like a classic quote to me. I've had no luck searching for attribution over the years.

I don't want to debate the usefulness of IEEE floating point. It is useful and I use it. The quote reminds me to be mindful of its quirks and limits. I'm just looking for attribution for the quote.

asked Mar 28 '17 at 16:43

GlenPeterson

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I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about quote attribution, not software engineering. – Jerry Coffin Mar 28 '17 at 16:52
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"If you think you need floating point to solve the problem, you don't understand the problem", which leads to this post. The almighty Internet doesn't yield any further information. – Robert Harvey Mar 28 '17 at 16:58

Who first said, "If you think floating point is the answer, you don't understand the problem."

0 Answers0