Handling Decimal Numbers in Java and PostgreSQL
Handling Decimal Numbers in Java and PostgreSQL Background When working with decimal numbers such as percentages, monetary values, or other precise quantities, choosing the correct data types in both Java and PostgreSQL is critical to avoid precision loss and rounding errors. Java Data Types: Float vs BigDecimal Float and Double Use binary floating-point representation. Can introduce subtle rounding errors (e.g., 0.1 stored as 0.10000000000000001 ). Suitable for approximate scientific calculations or measurements where minor inaccuracies are acceptable. BigDecimal Uses exact decimal representation. Ideal for financial calculations, percentages, or anywhere exact decimal precision is required. Stores scale (number of digits after the decimal point) explicitly. PostgreSQL Data Types: FLOAT vs NUMERIC FLOAT (or DOUBLE PRECISION ) Approximate, binary floating-point storage. Can cause precision errors similar to Java Float / Double . ...