st: real vs destring

[Nicholas Harrigan <nicholas.harrigan@nuffield.ox.ac.uk>]

Hello,

I am trying to recode a variable containing large numbers which are 
currently held as strings.

I am wondering why real and destring give different results

"5560001090"
when I run real I get:    5560001024   
when I run destring I get: 5560001090

"5560001108"
when I run real I get:     5560001024   
when I run destring I get:  5560001108

Does this mean I should use always use destring in my coding instead of 
real?

The commands I use are these:

gen new_var = real(old_var)
gen new_var2 = old_var
destring new_var2, replace

Best
Nick


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