HP-71 Reals Faster Than Integers

[J-F Garnier]

(07-03-2024 03:46 AM)brouhaha Wrote:  I haven't checked, but it's possible that all the calculations are done in floating point, and then converted to integers for storage. Float to int could perhaps be a bit slow, though int to float should be fast. But still, it's extra conversions.

Yes, that's exactly the reason. All calculations on the HP-71 internal "Math Stack" (in RPN form) are done on floating point numbers.

The HP-75, as I indicated several times, has a clever "fast integer processing" feature.
When a REAL-type variable holds a integer value, then the calculations are done by integer routines, about 2x faster.
Still, even on the HP-75, INTEGER- and SHORT-type variables are slower and must be used only to save RAM or disc space.

J-F