

Rounding on output

Do we really have to lay down complicated rules for rounding of printed
flonums in the white pages?  I can't believe that all of these marginal
cases matter.  Why don't we just say that the results are supposed to be
rounded appropriately and let the implementors worry about overflow
conditions and how to break ties and what is done with the last bit.

I am aware that rounding is a very serious matter in floating-point
arithmetic, since if it is not done right the insignificant roundoff
errors can accumulate and drop your space shuttle into the middle of
Manhattan.  But I don't think that such considerations apply in printed
flonums, since it is hard for any substantial error to accumulate in a
small number of print/read cycles.

-- Scott