Pulling a New Proof from Knuth’s Fixed-Point Printer
Read OriginalThis technical article presents a new, clearer proof for the correctness of Donald Knuth's 1989 program (P2) for converting 16-bit fixed-point binary fractions to the shortest accurate decimal representation. It starts with a simpler, trivially correct program and transforms it step-by-step into Knuth's version, proving each transformation. The post also discusses alternative solutions and reflects on how programming language choices shape proofs and programs.
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