Julia EvansJun 21, 2023

delighted to announce that my new zine "How Integers and Floats Work!" is out today!

You can get it here for $12: https://wizardzines.com/zines/integers-floats/?utm_source=mastodon

It explains all of the surprising facts about how your computer does math, and it was SO fun to write.

wizard zines

wizard zines
Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
and here's the table of contents for How Integers and Floats Work! I'm really happy with the side by side layout of this one
Show threadJulia Evans
Reminder: if you’re in a country where $12 USD is a lot of money, I’ve set up purchasing power parity for “How Integers and Floats Work” — if you go to https://wizardzines.com/zines/integers-floats/?utm_source=mastodon, you should see a special discount for your country.
wizard zines

wizard zines
Jun 21, 2023 at 10:54pmWeb
Show threaddprk_ebooksJun 21, 2023
@b0rk
Have you done a primer for fixed point arithmetic? I felt like an actual wizard when I learned how to do it back in the day (no fancy floating point coprocessor you see, so floating point operations were expensive)
Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
@dprk_ebooks yeah there's a page on fixed point arithmetic in the zine! (though it's not super in depth)
Show threaddprk_ebooksJun 21, 2023
@b0rk
You're so amazing 🤩
Show threadcat anthropologist 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 21, 2023
@b0rk may i donate some to people who cannot afford it, in addition to buying my own copy? :)
Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
@justizin that's SO kind but I prefer to handle giving away free copies myself (we're going to be giving away some copies next week probably!)
Show threadcat anthropologist 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 21, 2023

@b0rk ofc <3 i just ordered print + pdf.

honestly, of all the things i was able to learn without a CS degree, this is probably the topic i am still weakest on.

i hate writing binary search, but i can if someone puts a gun to my head.. all i remember about floating point is that it’s really weird and made me kinda sad ;d

Show threadcat anthropologist 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 21, 2023

@b0rk honestly somewhere in back of my head i knew this didn’t make sense, i’ve pitched in before with ppl giving away humble bundles and stuff..

obviously … with your own content… you can simply give it away. lol

Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
@justizin i hope the zine makes floating point a little more clear! would love to hear if it helps :)
Show threadcat anthropologist 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 21, 2023

@b0rk will let you know! i didn’t like, not understand it, it just didn’t stick with me other than, “do not trust” ;d

i also remember it being pretty neat.

Show thread[𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚢𝚜𝟷@~/𝚜𝚛𝚌]$​Jun 21, 2023
@b0rk would LOVE to hear how you did this. #PurchasingPowerParity is so important. I don't run a shop, but folks who do should know about this.
Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
@Sidneys1 basically there's a small server-side function I wrote that uses the client IP address to determine your country and then has a lookup table of discount rates/codes based on the country
Show threadRommelRicoJun 21, 2023
@Sidneys1 @b0rk I’m also interested. For my project, I wanted to address a similar concern, but I went around it by allowing sellers to choose from three different price points per item (low, medium, high). This seems like it’s more based on IP address?
Show threadJulia EvansJun 21, 2023
@RommelRico @Sidneys1 yea it's based on IP address
Show threadWill DennisJun 21, 2023
@b0rk <- continues to be awesome ✨