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The Java language allows platforms to use available floating-point hardware that can provide floating-point support with exponents that contain more bits than the standard Java primitive type double (in the absence of the strictfp modifier). Consequently, these platforms can represent a superset of the values that can be represented by the standard floating-point types. Floating-point computations on such platforms can produce different results than would be obtained if the floating-point computations were restricted to the standard representations of float and double. According to the Java Language Specification (JLS), §15.4, "FP-strict Expressions",:

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the net effect \[of non-fp-strict evaluation\], roughly speaking, is that a calculation might produce "the correct answer" in situations where exclusive use of the float value set or double value set might result in overflow or underflow.

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An expression is strict when any of the containing classes, methods, or interfaces is declared to be strictfp. Constant expressions containing floating-point operations are also evaluated strictly. All compile-time constant expressions are by default , strictfp.

Strict behavior cannot be inherited by a subclass that extends a strictfp superclass. An overriding method can independently choose to be strictfp when the overridden method is not, or vice versa.

Noncompliant Code Example

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The lost magnitude would also have been lost if the value were stored to memory, ; for example, to a field of type float.

Compliant Solution

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