This is a tutorial that documents GiNaC @value{VERSION}, an open
framework for symbolic computation within the C++ programming language.
-Copyright (C) 1999-2001 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
+Copyright (C) 1999-2002 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
-Copyright @copyright{} 1999-2001 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
+Copyright @copyright{} 1999-2002 Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
@sp 2
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
@section License
The GiNaC framework for symbolic computation within the C++ programming
-language is Copyright @copyright{} 1999-2001 Johannes Gutenberg
+language is Copyright @copyright{} 1999-2002 Johannes Gutenberg
University Mainz, Germany.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@example
in 17 digits:
-0.333333333333333333
-3.14159265358979324
+0.33333333333333333334
+3.1415926535897932385
in 60 digits:
-0.333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
-3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459231
-@end example
+0.33333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333334
+3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078
+@end example
+
+@cindex rounding
+Note that the last number is not necessarily rounded as you would
+naively expect it to be rounded in the decimal system. But note also,
+that in both cases you got a couple of extra digits. This is because
+numbers are internally stored by CLN as chunks of binary digits in order
+to match your machine's word size and to not waste precision. Thus, on
+architectures with differnt word size, the above output might even
+differ with regard to actually computed digits.
It should be clear that objects of class @code{numeric} should be used
for constructing numbers or for doing arithmetic with them. The objects