scope:

This standard specifies formats and methods for floating-point arithmetic in computer systems - standard and extended functions with single, double, extended, and extendable precision - and recommends formats for data interchange. Exception conditions are defined and standard handling of these conditions is specified.

Purpose

This standard provides a method for computation with floating-point numbers that will yield the same result whether the processing is done in hardware, software, or a combination of the two. The results of the computation will be identical, independent of implementation, given the same input data. Errors, and error conditions, in the mathematical processing will be reported in a consistent manner regardless of implementation.