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Module 1

This document discusses computer data representation. It explains that binary is base 2 while decimal is base 10, and shows how numbers are represented in each system up to 8. It also defines that a bit is the smallest unit of digital information and a byte is 8 bits, which is used to store basic ASCII characters. Powers of 2 are convenient for computers since bits are often grouped into bytes of 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits to represent data.

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25 views

Module 1

This document discusses computer data representation. It explains that binary is base 2 while decimal is base 10, and shows how numbers are represented in each system up to 8. It also defines that a bit is the smallest unit of digital information and a byte is 8 bits, which is used to store basic ASCII characters. Powers of 2 are convenient for computers since bits are often grouped into bytes of 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits to represent data.

Uploaded by

api-350112427
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 1

January 31, 2017 6:23 PM

Part one:
Decimal - base 10
Binary - base 2

Base 10 Base 2
0 0
1 1
2 10
3 11
4 100
5 101
6 110
7 111
8 1000

Part two: BITS & BYTES

One short answer is that powers of 2 are most convenient. On computers, you will see groups of 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 bits. (You may have
heard of 32-bit machines or 64-bit machines.)
When talking about basic ASCII, 128 characters were initially sufficient to represent the letters and punctuation marks that are used in
English. 128 characters can be represented using 7 bits but rounding up to the nearest power of 2 meant using 8 bits. Additionally, when
numbers were stored on computers, one bit was reserved to distinguish between positive numbers and negative numbers. In ASCII, all of
the characters are represented by positive numbers, so the 8th bit is zero for all. There is also an Extended ASCII character set, which
makes use of all 8 bits to store 256 characters

Part Three - Bits and Bytes II

Online lecture Page 1


Part Four - More on ASCII

Part Five - Bits and Bytes III

Online lecture Page 2

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