(j3.2006) Liaison to IFIP WG 2.5

[Van Snyder]

On Wed, 2007-08-22 at 19:59 +0100, Lawrie Schonfelder wrote:
> I thought intervals were about accuracy critical not performance
> critical!

In many applications, if performance costs 100 times as much, accuracy
will be reluctantly sacrificed.  Ultimately, the scientists will blame
the software engineer for the situation.

And interval arithmetic isn't just about accuracy.  Some algorithms are
not guaranteed to work, or are impossible altogether, in point
arithmetic, while they are guaranteed to work in interval arithmetic.
The poster child for this is global minimization.

-- 
Van Snyder                    |  What fraction of Americans believe 
Van.Snyder at jpl.nasa.gov       |  Wrestling is real and NASA is fake?
Any alleged opinions are my own and have not been approved or
disapproved by JPL, CalTech, NASA, the President, or anybody else.