From: Joel VanderWerf <vjoel@...>
Date: 2007-09-04T04:00:32+09:00
Subject: Re: 0.06 == 0.06 returns false in Ruby?

M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
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> Stefan Rusterholz wrote:
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>> Marshal.dump on the other hand is serializing, of course you don't want 
>> your floats truncated just because you're serializing.
> Excuse me -- does Marshal.dump serialize floats in text or in binary?
> I'd hope it was binary. A *YAML* serializer would have to do it in text,
> although they could obviously encode binary in base 64 or hex.

The number itself is in acsii:

irb(main):006:0> x = 1.234e120
=> 1.234e+120
irb(main):007:0> Marshal.dump(x)
=> "\004\bf\0371.2340000000000001e+120\000@`"

Maybe this is for compatibility, in case ruby is running on some oddball 
system without the standard float formats?

-- 
       vjoel : Joel VanderWerf : path berkeley edu : 510 665 3407