[hugatest]

As long as you know the implications, you don't need to know how the values are stored.

You may say it's easier to know how they are stored, then you can derive the implications anytime you need them. Maybe that works for you, but most people who I know that got this wrong do actually know how FP values are stored, they are just drawing the wrong conclusions. So better focus on the implications, cause it's those that matter.

I already expressed this in the GP comment, and it's a little shocking to see all the replies that didn't actually pick up on that.

[ryandrake]

Knowing how the values are stored provides you the "why" behind the practical implications. Another example: Half of the range of all values that "float" can store lie between -1.0 and 1.0. Knowing how those values are encoded in memory tells you why.