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'''Multiple precision''' arithmetic (sometimes called '''extended precision''') is arithmetic carried out at higher precision (i.e. using [[binary]] representation with more bits than the usual length, usually a [[word]] in most early machines). In early computers this was usually not performed by hardware, but rather in software (although often in machines that did that, [[register]]s, such as a 'carry' bit, and [[instruction]]s, such as a 'sign extension' operation, were provided, to make it easier).

[[Floating point]] was often supplied in 'normal' and multiple precision forms.

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[[Category: Theory]]