PROBLEM
When I use floating point numbers, I get a strange rounding problem.
Why do I get lots of digits displayed in a number?
Strange rounding problem in Python/MicroPython.
Lots of digits displayed after a number.
18.9 gets displayed as 18.89999
CAUSE
https://github.com/bbcmicrobit/micropython/issues/367#issuecomment-258059673
The microbit uses 30-bit floating point and 18.9 is parsed correctly/accurately but it's then rounded down to 18.899999 when stored in 30 bits.
Floating point numbers are always going to have inaccuracies and you should use formatting like "%.2f" if you want a certain number of digits in the output.
WORKAROUND
number = 18.9
display.scroll("%.1f" % number)
DISCUSSION
display.scroll("%.1f" % number)
This uses Python string formatters:
If you have ever coded in C, they are similar to the format specifiers for the printf() function in C.
% inside the quotes means to specify the format of the next parameter
f specifies to interpret the next parameter as a floating point number.
. implies that you are specifying field-width and precision
Because there is no number before the . the field-width is not specified and defaults are used
1 after the dot means the precision is set to 1DP.
The string formatting operator % will apply the parameter(s) to the string at the start, using the % format specifiers in that quoted string.
e.g. to display a single string, you could use
print("My name is %s how cool is that!" % name)
The % operator at the end requires only 1 parameter, so if you have multiple parameters to 'fill into the string format', you have to use brackets like this:
print("My first name is %s my surname is %s I am %d years old" % (firstname, surname, age))
LAST REVIEWED
10 NOV 2016