John L. Gustafson

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.

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.

The Future of Numerical Computing Written by one of the foremost experts in high-performance computing and the inventor of Gustafson‘s Law, The End of Error: Unum Computing explains a new approach to computer arithmetic: the universal number (unum). The unum encompasses all IEEE floating-point formats as well as fixed-point and exact integer arithmetic. This new number type obtains more accurate answers than floating-point arithmetic yet uses fewer bits in many cases, saving memory, bandwidth, energy, and power. A Complete Revamp of Computer Arithmetic from the Ground Up Richly illustrated in color, this groundbreaking book represents a fundamental change in how to perform calculations automatically. It illustrates how this novel approach can solve problems that have vexed engineers and scientists for decades, including problems that have been historically limited to serial processing. Suitable for Anyone Using Computers for Calculations The book is accessible to anyone who uses computers for technical calculations, with much of the book only requiring high school math. The author makes the mathematics interesting through numerous analogies. He clearly defines jargon and uses color-coded boxes for mathematical formulas, computer code, important descriptions, and exercises.

The Future of Numerical ComputingWritten by one of the foremost experts in high-performance computing and the inventor of Gustafson’s Law, The End of Error: Unum Computing explains a new approach to computer arithmetic: the universal number (unum). The unum encompasses all IEEE floating-point formats as well as fixed-point and exact integer arithmetic. This new number type obtains more accurate answers than floating-point arithmetic yet uses fewer bits in many cases, saving memory, bandwidth, energy, and power.A Complete Revamp of Computer Arithmetic from the Ground UpRichly illustrated in color, this groundbreaking book represents a fundamental change in how to perform calculations automatically. It illustrates how this novel approach can solve problems that have vexed engineers and scientists for decades, including problems that have been historically limited to serial processing.Suitable for Anyone Using Computers for CalculationsThe book is accessible to anyone who uses computers for technical calculations, with much of the book only requiring high school math. The author makes the mathematics interesting through numerous analogies. He clearly defines jargon and uses color-coded boxes for mathematical formulas, computer code, important descriptions, and exercises.