Tom edits

src/Advanced/Fast Inverse Root/parts/00 intro.typ

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+#import "@local/handout:0.1.0": *
+
+= Introduction
+
+In 2005, ID Software published the source code of _Quake III Arena_, a popular game released in 1999. \
+This caused quite a stir: ID Software was responsible for many games popular among old-school engineers (most notably _Doom_, which has a place in programmer humor even today).
+
+#v(2mm)
+
+Naturally, this community immediately began dissecting _Quake_'s source. \
+One particularly interesting function is reproduced below, with original comments: \
+
+#v(3mm)
+
+```c
+float Q_rsqrt( float number ) {
+	long i;
+	float x2, y;
+	const float threehalfs = 1.5F;
+
+	x2 = number * 0.5F;
+	y  = number;
+	i  = * ( long * ) &y;						// evil floating point bit level hacking
+	i  = 0x5f3759df - ( i >> 1 );               // [redacted]
+	y  = * ( float * ) &i;
+	y  = y * ( threehalfs - ( x2 * y * y ) );   // 1st iteration
+//	y  = y * ( threehalfs - ( x2 * y * y ) );   // 2nd iteration, this can be removed
+
+	return y;
+}
+```
+
+#v(3mm)
+
+This code defines a function `Q_sqrt`, which was used as a fast approximation of the inverse square root in graphics routines. (in other words, `Q_sqrt` efficiently approximates $1 div sqrt(x)$)
+
+#v(3mm)
+
+The key word here is "fast": _Quake_ ran on very limited hardware, and traditional approximation techniques (like Taylor series)#footnote[Taylor series aren't used today, and for the same reason. There are better ways.] were too computationally expensive to be viable.
+
+#v(3mm)
+
+Our goal today is to understand how `Q_sqrt` works. \
+To do that, we'll first need to understand how computers represent numbers. \
+We'll start with simple binary integers---turn the page.