Overflow

Integers and floats are representations in the memory of your computer. Therefore, there are value limits to these numbers.
- If we pass the limit, we arrive at an overflow, and the number is not computed correctly.
For integers, Python dynamically increases the use of memory as the number grows. Therefore, in theory there is a limit (computer memory will be full), but in practice this will almost never be the case.
- For example, try 2147483647 ** 200
- This, however, is a Python feature. Other languages may not handle that.
For floats, numbers are limited by the size of the mantissa and exponent.
- Remember: for $1.2345 \times 10^7$, $1.2345$ is the mantissa, and $7$ is the exponent
- In Python, maximum is about 3 digits for the exponent and 17 digits for the mantissa
- For example, try: 2.0**2000
  - OverflowError

So, be careful when mixing numeric types!

On June 4, 1996 the European Space Agency launched the first Ariane 5 rocket:
- the result of a decade of development, $8 billion
- Exploded 40 seconds after lift-off with a $500 million satellite payload on board…
Cause was a software error related to a number type conversion and an overflow