[fpc-pascal] Order of Precedence: FPC/Delphi vs Java

[Bernd Oppolzer]

The explanation for the results is as follows:

the first three codings do the multiplication first, then the division.
the last two first division, then multiplication. That makes the 
difference.

When division is done first, you get an intermediate result of 1.0 exactly.
The subsequent multiplication yields 51009.9 exactly, so the difference 
is zero.
No risk for rounding errors.

When the multiplication is done first, you get a very large result which 
cannot
be stored exactly in the machine representation. When divided by 51009.9,
the result differs by a little epsilon from 1.0, so the difference is shown
as the final result.

Depending on the FP representation chosen, you will see the difference 
or not.
When I tested the program with my New Stanford Pascal compiler, I saw the
different computation sequence in the generated code, but I didn't get a
difference. But that's pure luck.

Example:

Multiplication first:

  LOC 21
  LOD R,1,416
  LOD R,1,408
  LOD R,1,416
  MPR
  LOD R,1,424
  DVR
  SBR
  STR R,1,432

Division first:

  LOC 23
  LOD R,1,416
  LOD R,1,408
  LOD R,1,416
  LOD R,1,424
  DVR
  MPR
  SBR
  STR R,1,432

The result was zero in both cases.

Kind regards

Bernd



Am 03.10.2018 um 10:40 schrieb mailinglists at geldenhuys.co.uk:
> I have this simple little test. My expected answer for all the 
> calculations are 0 (zero), but both FPC and Delphi give different 
> results. Java is the only one that seems consistent regarding the 
> results.
>
> Can anybody explain this, especially the first 3 very small negative 
> numbers that Delphi and FPC produces? I know  not all floating point 
> values can be stored exactly (or something like that), and when doing 
> calculations, it might do a auto data type conversion. But is any of 
> that taking place here?
>
> The only positive I can see, is that FPC and Delphi are consistent. :-)
>
> Here is the Object Pascal test:
>
> ===============[ TestOperatorPrecedence.pas ]=================
> program TestOperatorPrecedence;
>
> {$IFDEF FPC}
>   {$mode objfpc}{$H+}
> {$ELSE}
>   {$apptype console}
> {$ENDIF}
>
> var
>   a,b,c,d: double;
>   ans: extended;
> begin
>   a := 1.0;
>   b := 51009.9;
>   c := 51009.9;
>   d := 51009.9;
>   writeln(b);
>   writeln(c);
>   writeln(d);
>   writeln('---');
>
>   ans := c - b * c / d;
>   writeln(ans);
>
>   ans := c - (b * c) / d;
>   writeln(ans);
>
>   ans := c - (b * c / d);
>   writeln(ans);
>
>   ans := c - b * (c / d);
>   writeln(ans);
>
>
>   ans := c - (b * (c / d));
>   writeln(ans);
> end.
> ==============================================================
>
> And the results are:
> graeme.geldenhuys at UKCM-L500737 C:\devel\tests\OperatorPrecedence
>> TestOperatorPrecedence.exe
>  5.10099000000000E+0004
>  5.10099000000000E+0004
>  5.10099000000000E+0004
> ---
> -3.55271367880050E-0015
> -3.55271367880050E-0015
> -3.55271367880050E-0015
>  0.00000000000000E+0000
>  0.00000000000000E+0000
>
>
> And here is the Java equivalent...
>
>
> ===============[ TestOperatorPrecedence.java ]================
> public class TestOperatorPrecedence {
>
>     public static void main(String[] args) {
>         double b = 51009.9;
>         double c = 51009.9;
>         double d = 51009.9;
>         double ans;
>
>         System.out.println(b);
>         System.out.println(c);
>         System.out.println(d);
>         System.out.println("-----");
>
>         ans = c - b * c / d;
>         System.out.println(ans);
>
>         ans = c - (b * c) / d;
>         System.out.println(ans);
>
>         ans = c - (b * c / d);
>         System.out.println(ans);
>
>         ans = c - b * (c / d);
>         System.out.println(ans);
>
>
>         ans = c - (b * (c / d));
>         System.out.println(ans);
>     }
> }
>
> ==============================================================
>
> And the results are:
> graeme.geldenhuys at UKCM-L500737 C:\devel\tests\OperatorPrecedence
>> java TestOperatorPrecedence
> 51009.9
> 51009.9
> 51009.9
> -----
> 0.0
> 0.0
> 0.0
> 0.0
> 0.0
>
>
>
> Regards,
>   Graeme
>
>
>
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