Transitioning to Java

12

BigDecimal and Unit Testing

We begin this chapter by addressing the problem with floating point representation that is found in most languages. The problem revolves around the inability to represent every decimal fraction as a binary fraction, as pointed out in Chapter 4, Language Fundamentals – Data Types and Variables. In most situations, it can be accurate enough. But what happens if you must guarantee accuracy and precision? You must abandon floating point primitives and use the BigDecimal class.

How do you know that the code you have just written works? The compiler can spot syntax errors. An error-free compilation only tells you that the compiler is happy. But does it work? How does your code handle invalid input, lost connections to ...