Optimizing Decimal Point Alignment

Operations are fastest on integers, but operations on non-integer numbers are at their most efficient when the operands have matching decimal point alignment (that is, the number of decimal positions to the right of the implied decimal point). For example:

• ADD and SUBTRACT operations are at their fastest when the source and target have the same decimal alignment.
• MULTIPLY operations are at their fastest when the decimal alignment of the target is the sum of the alignments of the sources.
• DIVIDE operations are at their fastest when the divisor has no fractional part and the dividend and the target have the same decimal alignment.