CODEWITHSUNDEEP
mathdata-structuresexponentialdecimal-point
vega2015
vega2015

Reputation: 139

Implementing negative exponents with arbitrary-precision integers?

I'm trying to make a calculator using arbitrary-precision maths but I can't figure out how to handle negative exponents. What is the most efficient way to preform an operation involving n**-x? So far i've tried 1/n**x, the problem is that I have no way of knowing how many numbers will trail the decimal point and using integers for example defeats the purpose of making a calculator using arbitrary-precision as it would restrict the size of the allowed input numbers. I was wondering if there is any other way to do this.

I'm programming in C but any method for negative exponents works honestly.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 162

Answers (1)

templatetypedef
templatetypedef

Reputation: 372814

If you need to support arbitrary-precision arithmetic with negative exponents, it sounds like you might want to consider storing your number as a fraction in simplest form with the numerator and denominator each storing arbitrary-precision integers. To implement something like x-n where x = a / b, you'd end up with the number bn / an. This way, you don't need to worry about decimal digits at all, which is a good thing because most real numbers don't have finite decimal representations.

Upvotes: 2

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