Numerics in Mathematica 3.0

Volume 6, Issue 4
Fall 1996

Mathematica 3.0 has several new and important features. They include a new input syntax for floating-point numbers, enhancements to the function N, and a mechanism for extending the functionality of symbolic constants. This article summarizes the precision model used by Mathematica, and explains these new features. The caching mechanism for numerical quantities is also described.