> Unfortunately, the people who suggest that paper don't realize that it's a very technical treatise and not an appropriate introduction for the types of programmers who ask the question.
I think the main value of that paper for newbie programmers is not to learn all the nitty gritty details about floats (which would be futile), but instead get the idea that floats can, and will, behave unintuitively, and that they are not just decimal numbers like many beginner materials propose.
That would be great if they did, but I suspect that many programmers would look at the style and wave it away as boffin stuff they don't really need to worry about.
I think the main value of that paper for newbie programmers is not to learn all the nitty gritty details about floats (which would be futile), but instead get the idea that floats can, and will, behave unintuitively, and that they are not just decimal numbers like many beginner materials propose.