5 Hidden scratchpads and the three layers
Before automatic computing, operators of desk calculators could track the significant digits in every calculation because numbers were entered by hand. With practice, operators could avoid the pitfalls of rounding errors by remembering which results had been rounded, and by how much. This disappeared with automatic computing, with intermediate scratch work hidden from the programmer.
5.1 The hidden scratchpad
Every computer has a hidden “scratchpad” for arithmetic. Perhaps the simplest example is the multiplier. Careful examination of the desk calculator on the previous page reveals eight digit positions ...
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