Numeric data type

The Num type is used to store floating-point values. It corresponds to the double precision in C.

Notice that, in Perl 6, the Num value is only created when the numeric literal is spelled in a scientific notation. That is, the E part of the value must be present.

Thus, in the following examples, the numbers with only a decimal point will be of the Rat type:

say 3.14;    # Rat
say 123.456; # Rat
say 0.9;     # Rat

The following numbers represent the same values, but are of the Num type, as they use the exponential part in their definition:

say 3.14E0;    # Num
say 1.23456E2; # Num
say 9E-1;      # Num

Remember that the Num values use the packed IEEE binary format, so they are limited in precision, while Rat numbers keep their numerator and denominator as two integer numbers.

Among the Num values, there is one outstanding value of NaN, which stands for Not a Number.