BigNum module

The BigNum module supports mathematical calculations on numbers that are too large to fit into a standard double precision value.

A double is limited to approximately 15 digits of precision, whereas a Netezza database numeric value can have up to 38 digits of precision. nzLua encodes numbers that do not fit into a double precision value as BigNum values. The OPT_FORCE_BIGNUM option can be used to modify when integer and numeric values will be passed to nzLua as BigNum values instead of doubles.

Although performance when using a BigNum number in a calculation is good, it is still far slower than using a double and should be avoided where possible.