COMPSCI 1TA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Text File, Sign Bit, Block Diagram
5 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Therefore some how the data has to get converted to 0s and 1s to be used on a computer. Bit (binary digit) the smallest possible unit of data that a computer can recognize n bits can create 2^n possiblites. A character is normally stored on a byte. 1 bit either have 0 or 1: 2 possibilities. 2 bits: 0,0 0,1 10, 11: 4 poss. A series of bits could represent: times some files that you open on a different program may show error because it is not the file type or. For n bits 1 bit is usually used as a sign bit, the other n-1 are used to store the number. Overflow occurs when there are not enough bits to store the number. The program that you are running will determine how your bits are interpreted ex. Mantissa contains the significant digits (including a sign bit). Exponent (with sign bit) contains decimal place information.
