title: What is the binary format of a floating point number used by C++ on Intel based systems?
body: <p>I am interested to learn about the binary format for a single or a double type used by C++ on Intel based systems.</p>
  
  <p>I have avoided the use of floating point numbers in cases where the data needs to potentially be read or written by another system (i.e. files or networking).  I do realise that I could use fixed point numbers instead, and that fixed point is more accurate, but I am interested to learn about the floating point format.</p>