Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Thu, 6 Jan 2000 11:08:11 -0500 (EST)
From:      "Crist J. Clark" <cjc@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
To:        jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org (Jonathon McKitrick)
Cc:        tom@embt.com (Tom Embt), cjclark@home.com, chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: I will never trust NBC news again!
Message-ID:  <200001061608.LAA20035@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0001061418190.66464-100000@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> from Jonathon McKitrick at "Jan 6, 2000 02:19:23 pm"

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Jonathon McKitrick wrote,
> 
> >BTW, I *think* it would be 2^31-1 not 2^31.  For example, doesn't a char
> >store values from -128 to 127 ?
> 
> Only if it's treated as a signed value.  If it is unsigned, then the extra
> bit can be used for value storage.                               ^^^^^^^^^
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think that is a misleading way to phrase it or think about it. In
signed or unsigned integer-types, all bits are used for "value
storage." This is seen in your example,

> signed int: -128 127
> unsigned:   0    255

Both of these ranges contain 256 values, the number of states
that 8 binary switches can assume. All bits are used for "value
storage." How we map those 256 states to the mathematical objects,
like integers, is up to the programmer.
-- 
Crist J. Clark                           cjclark@home.com


To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200001061608.LAA20035>