Scribd
Upload
9 views

Data Types

Uploaded by

2004sabaa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views

Data Types

Uploaded by

2004sabaa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Data types

Data Representation in Computer Memory

Data representation in computer memory is a fundamental concept in computer science. It


involves how information is stored, organized, and accessed within a computer's memory
system. This process is crucial for the execution of programs and the manipulation of data.

At the heart of data representation lies the binary system. Unlike humans, who primarily use
the decimal system (base 10) with digits ranging from 0 to 9, computers operate on the binary
system (base 2), which uses only two digits - 0 and 1. This is due to the electronic nature of
computer circuits, which can easily distinguish between two states - on and off.

In this binary system, the smallest unit of data is called a "bit," which can hold either a 0 or a
1. Eight bits together form a "byte," which is the basic unit for data storage and processing. A
byte can represent up to 256 different values (2^8).

Data comes in various forms, each with its own representation. For instance, integers, which
are whole numbers, can be represented using either a signed or unsigned format. A signed
integer includes both positive and negative numbers and employs a sign bit to indicate the
sign. In contrast, an unsigned integer only represents positive numbers and doesn't use a sign
bit.

For real numbers, the floating-point representation is used. It divides the data into a mantissa
(which holds the significant digits) and an exponent (which determines the scale of the
number). This allows the representation of a wide range of values, from very small to very
large, with a certain level of precision.

Characters, on the other hand, are represented using character encoding standards like ASCII
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) or Unicode. Each character is
assigned a unique numeric value, allowing computers to store and process text.

Memory in a computer is organized into bytes, each with a unique address. This enables the
computer to locate and access specific data when needed. Moreover, data is stored in either
big-endian or little-endian format, which determines the order in which the bytes of a multi-
byte value are stored in memory.

Programs dynamically allocate memory during runtime to store variables and data structures.
This allows for flexibility in managing memory resources based on the program's
requirements.

Type Size (byte) Format


at least 2, generally
int %d, %i
4
char 1 %c
float 4 %f
double 8 %lf
short int 2 generally %hd
Type Size (byte) Format
at least 2, generally
unsigned int %u
4
at least 4, generally
long int %ld, %li
8
%lld,
long long int at least 8
%lli
unsigned long
at least 4 %lu
int
unsigned long
at least 8 %llu
long int
signed char 1 %c
unsigned char 1 %c
Au moins 10,
long double %Lf
generally 12 or 16

Type conversion

Implicit Type Conversion (Automatic): Performed by the compiler itself, Generally occurs
when multiple data types are present in an expression. A type conversion (type promotion)
takes place to prevent data loss. All variable data types are upgraded to the data type of the
variable with the largest data type.

Explicit Type Conversion (Automatic): This process is also known as type casting and is
defined by the user. Here, the user can explicitly specify the result to be transformed into a
particular data type.

You might also like