16 lines
2.6 KiB
HTML
16 lines
2.6 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>fudge factor</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../F.html" title="F"/><link rel="previous" href="fudge.html" title="fudge"/><link rel="next" href="fuel-up.html" title="fuel up"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">fudge factor</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="fudge.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">F</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="fuel-up.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="fudge-factor"/><dt xmlns="" id="fudge-factor"><b>fudge factor</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [common] A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way to
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produce the desired result. The terms <span class="firstterm">tolerance</span> and <a href="../S/slop.html"><i class="glossterm">slop</i></a> are
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also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a
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buffer that is made larger than necessary because one isn't sure exactly
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how large it needs to be, and it is better to waste a little space than to
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lose completely for not having enough. A fudge factor, on the other hand,
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can often be tweaked in more than one direction. A good example is the
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<span class="firstterm">fuzz</span> typically allowed in
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floating-point calculations: two numbers being compared for equality must
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be allowed to differ by a small amount; if that amount is too small, a
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computation may never terminate, while if it is too large, results will be
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needlessly inaccurate. Fudge factors are frequently adjusted incorrectly
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by programmers who don't fully understand their import. See also
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<a href="../C/coefficient-of-X.html"><i class="glossterm">coefficient of X</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="fudge.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../F.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="fuel-up.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">fudge </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> fuel up</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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