What is a Bias Value of Floating Point Numbers?

Posted by mudge on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by mudge
Published on 2010-05-14T15:17:34Z Indexed on 2010/05/14 21:24 UTC
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In learning how floating point numbers are represented in computers I have come across the term "bias value" that I do not quite understand.

The bias value in floating point numbers has to do with the negative and positiveness of the exponent part of a floating point number.

The bias value of a floating point number is 127 which means that 127 is always added to the exponent part of a floating point number. How does doing this help determine if the exponent is negative or positive or not?

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