Every Bit Counts : Posit Computing

Title: Every Bit Counts : Posit Computing
Author: John L. Gustafson
ISBN: 1032738057 / 9781032738055
Format: Soft Cover
Pages: 464
Publisher: CHAPMAN & HALL
Year: 2025
Availability: In Stock

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Written by one of the foremost experts in high-performance computing and the inventor of Gustafson’s law, Every Bit Counts: Posit Computing explains the foundations of a new way for computers to calculate that saves time, storage, energy, and power by packing more information into every bit than do legacy approaches. Both the AI and HPC communities are increasingly using the posit approach that Gustafson introduced in 2017, which may be the future of technical computing.

What may seem like a dry subject is made engaging by including the human and historical side of the struggle to represent numbers on machines. The book is richly illustrated in full color throughout, with every effort made to make the material as clear and accessible as possible, and even humorous.

Starting with the simplest form of the idea, the chapters gradually add concepts according to stated mathematical and engineering design principles, building a robust tool kit for creating application-specific number systems. There is also a thorough explanation of the Posit™ Standard (2022), with motivations and examples that expand on that terse 12-page document.

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Preface
Acknowledgements
How to Read this Book

Chapter 1 : The Posit Number Format
Chapter 2 : Inaccuracy Done Right
Chapter 3 : More Power!
Chapter 4 : How We Got Into This Mess
Chapter 5 : The Posit Standard, Annotated
Chapter 6 : Preaching About the Quire
Chapter 7 : A Bridge to Sane Floats
Chapter 8 : Logarithmic Systems, The Musical
Chapter 9 : The Fastest Arithmetic Ever?
Chapter 10 : The Minefield Method
Chapter 11 : Matrix Multiply, Visualized
Chapter 12 : Linear Solvers that Suck Less
Chapter 13 : The Future of Posit Computing

Glossary
Answers to Exercises
Appendix A : Posit Code Listings
Appendix B : Float Code Listings
Appendix C : The hypot Function
Appendix D : L Table for 8-Bit Posits
Appendix E : Linear Solver Tests
Appendix F : Linear Solvers
Appendix G : Takum Format
Index