Chapter 2
Bits, Bytes, and Words
Computers store and process digital data. Numbers, text, images, sound, and video must be stored in memory before computers can process them.
We shall explain the organization of computer memory and how numbers, characters, and other data are represented with bit patterns. Binary numbers, modular arithmetic, US-ASCII, and Unicode character encoding will be covered.
2.1 Digital Computers
Modern computers are digital because they store and process discrete rather than continuous information.
- Discrete data–Data are discrete when only certain distinct separate values are allowed. The number of chickens, letter grades, basketball scores, age, income, integers, fractions, and so on are examples. Discrete values have ...
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