Floating Point Notation

Floating point notation is a method for calculating and storing numbers in which the decimal

point do not line up as in fixed point numbers. Floating point number representation consists of two parts. The first part of the number is a signed fixed point number, which is termed as mantissa, and the second part specifies the decimal or binary point position and is termed as an exponent. The mantissa can be an integer or a fraction. Floating point numbers are often represented in normalized forms. A floating point number whose mantissa does not contain 0 as the most significant digit of the number is considered to be in normalized form.

Floating point methods are used for calculating a large range of numbers quickly. Floating point representation can be implemented in hardware or they can be done in software. In large systems, they can also be performed in a separate floating point processor that is connected to the main processor via a channel.