need help with the following question!

Describe an algorithm for converting a string to a floating-point value. Data from a console is initially read in from a string and must be converted to a floating-point format. For example, a string value of -705.7481 x 1020 needs to be parsed in some way to interpret it as a floating point value. show exactly how the characters in the string are converted to numbers, just describe in words each step in the algorithm. For example, a step might include "Read the digits from the left up to the decimal point."