What does the “M” stand for in decimal value assignment?

Question

MSDN says:

\"Without the suffix m, the number is treated as a double, thus generating a compiler error.\"

What does the \"M\" in:

decimal curren         


        

Answer 1

Description

decimal current = 10.99M; 

Tells the compiler you want a decimal number.

decimal current = (decimal)10.99

Tells the compiler you want to cast your double 10.99 to a decimal.

Some say it stands for money. M because you must use decimals in financial applications. You must use decimals because they are more accurate than floating point numbers (double).

The decimal suffix is M/m since D/d was already taken by double. Although it has been suggested that M stands for money, Peter Golde recalls that M was chosen simply as the next best letter in decimal.

The decimal has more significant figures than the double, therefore it can be more precise- it also takes up slightly more memory. Other than certian math or physics-related algorithms, the double or float should do fine.

For example

• If you do ANYNUMBER / 0.5d you will not get the half of ANYNUMBER.

• If you do ANYNUMBER / 0.5m you will get everytime the half of ANYNUMBER.

• Use decimal for money

• Use double for exchange rates

More Information

• Decimal vs. Double - difference?
• What Every Programmer Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic