python overflowerror_python loop OverflowError: (34, 'Result too large')

2013-07-19 09:35:58

1

python 2.5 on osx

I got the OverflowError: (34, 'Result too large') for the following code:

x = 1.04

for i in range(2, 101):

x += x**i

print x

So instead, I used the code below; no error was generated.

x = 0

for i in range(1, 101):

x += 1.04**i

print x

The result is 1287.12865279 and this seems miles away from the maximum float. If I need to use a different type to handle this floating point calculation, why does the latter code work while the former one doesn't? I'm puzzled..... Any help&explanation on resolving the error would be much appreciated.