Microsoft KB Archive/31928

= Difference between Decimal and Binary Macintosh QuickBASIC =

Article ID: 31928

Article Last Modified on 1/8/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft QuickBasic Compiler for Macintosh 1.0

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This article was previously published under Q31928



SUMMARY
The binary and decimal versions of Microsoft QuickBASIC for the Macintosh include the same features. They differ only in that they use different formats for floating-point numbers. The two versions have different desktop icons, as do applications written with them.

The binary version (IEEE format) is best suited to scientific and engineering applications. Arithmetic operations are always faster in this version than in the decimal version, especially for the transcendental functions (i.e., SIN, COS, SQR, LOG, and ATN). The default numeric type is single precision in binary QuickBASIC.

The decimal version (BCD format) is best suited to business and financial applications because it introduces no round-off error for calculations involving dollars and cents. The default numeric type is double precision in decimal QuickBASIC.

Additional query words: MQuickB

Keywords: KB31928

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