Real data type

Real data type

A real data type is a data type used in a computer program to represent an approximation of a real number.Because the real numbers are not countable, computers cannot represent them exactly using a finite amount of information.Most often, a computer will use a rational approximation to a real number.

Rational numbers

The most general data type for a rational number stores the numerator and denominator as integers.See Integer.

Fixed point numbers

A "fixed point" data type assumes a specific denominator for all numbers. The denominator here is most often a power of two. For example, in a system whose denominator is 65,536 (216), the hexadecimal number 0x12345678 means 0x12345678/65536 or 305419896/65536 or 4660 + 22136/65536 or about 4660.33777.See fixed-point arithmetic.

Floating point numbers

A "floating point" type is a compromise between the flexibility of a general rational type and the speed of fixed-point arithmetic.It uses some of the bits in the data type to specify a power of two for the denominator.See floating point and IEEE Floating Point Standard.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Data type — For other uses, see Data type (disambiguation). In computer programming, a data type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, such as floating point, integer, or Boolean, that determines the possible values for that type; the …   Wikipedia

  • Abstract data type — In computing, an abstract data type (ADT) is a specification of a set of data and the set of operations that can be performed on the data. Such a data type is abstract in the sense that it is independent of various concrete implementations. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Type system — Type systems Type safety Inferred vs. Manifest Dynamic vs. Static Strong vs. Weak Nominal vs. Structural Dependent typing Duck typing Latent typing Linear typing Uniqueness typing …   Wikipedia

  • Type inference — Type inference, or implicit typing, refers to the ability to deduce automatically the type of a value in a programming language. It is a feature present in some strongly statically typed languages. It is often characteristic of but not limited to …   Wikipedia

  • Data model — Overview of data modeling context: A data model provides the details of information to be stored, and is of primary use when the final product is the generation of computer software code for an application or the preparation of a functional… …   Wikipedia

  • Type safety — In computer science, type safety is a property of some programming languages that is defined differently by different communities, but most definitions involve the use of a type system to prevent certain erroneous or undesirable program behavior… …   Wikipedia

  • Type polymorphism — In computer science, polymorphism is a programming language feature that allows values of different data types to be handled using a uniform interface. The concept of parametric polymorphism applies to both data types and functions. A function… …   Wikipedia

  • Type conversion — This article is about the computer science concept. For the aviation licensing process, see Type conversion (aviation). In computer science, type conversion, typecasting, and coercion refers to different ways of, implicitly or explicitly,… …   Wikipedia

  • Data center infrastructure management — (DCIM) is the integration of information technology (IT) and facility management disciplines to centralize monitoring, management and intelligent capacity planning of a data center s critical systems. Achieved through the implementation of… …   Wikipedia

  • Real time control protocol — Real time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) is a sister protocol of the Real time Transport Protocol (RTP). It is defined in RFC 3550 (which supersedes RFC 1889).RTCP provides out of band control information for an RTP flow. It partners RTP in… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”