Question

A program developed for a Web store represents customer account balances using a format that approximates real numbers. While testing the program, a software developer discovers that some values appear to be mathematically imprecise. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the imprecision?
A. The account balances are represented using a fixed number of bits, resulting in overflow errors.
B. The account balances are represented using a fixed number of bits, resulting in round-off errors.
C. The account balances are represented using an unlimited number of bits, resulting in overflow errors.
D. The account balances are represented using an unlimited number of bits, resulting in round-off errors.

Answer 1

Answer:

B.

Explanation:

The most likely reason for this would be that the account balances are represented using a fixed number of bits, resulting in round-off errors. Since all of the numbers being used are real numbers they would have a fixed 32 bits of data. When these values are multiplied or divided they can be irrational numbers that never end, and therefore are cut off in order to fit the available data. This would cause the numbers to be rounded and can lead to the answer being imprecise.