What is Data Representation in Computer?
A computer uses a
fixed number of bits to represent a piece of data which could be a number, a
character, image, sound, video, etc. Data
representation is the method
used internally to represent data in a computer.
Before
discussing data
representation of numbers, let
us see what a number system is.
Number Systems
Number
systems are the
technique to represent numbers in the computer system architecture, every value
that you are saving or getting into/from computer memory has a defined number
system.
A number system is a
systematic way to represent numbers. The number system we use in our day-to-day
life is the decimal number system that uses 10 symbols or digits.
A number system has a
unique base, which depends upon the number of symbols. The number of symbols
used in a number system is called the base or radix of a number system.
Let us discuss some of the number systems.
Computer architecture supports the following number systems:
Binary Number System
A Binary number system has only
two digits that are 0 and 1. Every number (value) represents 0 and 1 in this
number system. The base of the binary number system is 2 because it has only
two digits.
Octal Number System
The octal number system has
only eight (8) digits from 0 to 7. Every number (value) represents with
0,1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 in this number system. The base of the octal number system
is 8, because it has only 8 digits.
Decimal Number System
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