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Math in V8 is Broken and How We Can Fix It by Athan Reines, Fourier

1,264 views · Published 15 December 2016 · 20:23 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: node.js · 2016 · Science & Technology

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Math in V8 is Broken and How We Can Fix It - Athan Reines, Fourier

The built-in JavaScript Math library is used in virtually every Node.js application, from generating random ids to calculating exponential back-off times to computing basic performance metrics. When using the Math library, most developers simply assume that the underlying implementations are accurate, performant, and correctly implemented. In this presentation, Athan Reines will discuss why this assumption is often false and show the various ways in which the standard library is broken. 

The presentation will present the algorithms used, their performance and accuracy, and how they have downstream effects on users of these libraries. The presentation will conclude by highlighting how community solutions are stepping up to fix these problems and identity opportunities for additional improvements.

About Athan Reines
I am a full-stack engineer and data scientist. I have a PhD in Physics, where I used machine learning and time series analytics to probe biological systems at the nanoscale. My current projects focus on numeric computing using Node.js and JavaScript. I have authored 800+ node modules, as well as browser libraries for exploratory data analysis. I have spoken at conferences on the interplay between philosophy and physics, on topics in the biological sciences, and on data visualization within big data pipelines.

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