Tutorials:Value types - Revision history

Leunsel: Updated Type Representations.

2025-12-03T17:37:18Z

Updated Type Representations.

NottNott: Clean up sentence

2021-02-23T01:07:48Z

Clean up sentence

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Bits, Bytes, and Words */

2018-04-19T12:57:20Z

‎Bits, Bytes, and Words

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Bits, Bytes, and Words */

2018-04-18T16:15:05Z

‎Bits, Bytes, and Words

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Bits, Bytes, and Words */

2018-04-18T15:07:06Z

‎Bits, Bytes, and Words

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Floating points */

2018-04-18T15:06:37Z

‎Floating points

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Signs */

2018-04-18T15:06:23Z

‎Signs

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Floating points */

2018-04-18T14:58:43Z

‎Floating points

TheyCallMeTim13: /* Value types */

2018-04-18T14:56:59Z

‎Value types

FreeER: /* Bits, Bytes, and Words */

2018-02-06T02:03:56Z

‎Bits, Bytes, and Words

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 == Value sizes ==
-So these are the standard value sizes:
+{|width="85%" cellpadding="10%" cellpadding="5%" cellspacing="0" border="0"
-; Bit
+!align="left"|Value size
-: A binary digit, the smallest unit of data in a computer's memory.
+!style="width: 70%;" align="left"|Description
-; Byte
+|-
-: A group bits (usually eight), operated on as a unit.
+|'''Bit'''
-; WORD - Word
+|A binary digit, the smallest unit of data in a computer's memory.
-: 2 Bytes (16 bits).
+|-
-; DWORD - Double word
+|'''Byte'''
-: 4 Bytes (32 bits).
+|A group of bits (usually eight), operated on as a unit.
-; QWORD - Quadword
+|-
-: 8 Bytes (64 bits).
+|'''WORD''' (2 bytes)
+|2 Bytes (16 bits).
-These are some of the larger sizes:
+|-
-; TWORD - Ten byte
+|'''DWORD''' (4 bytes)
-: 10 Bytes (80 bits).
+|4 Bytes (32 bits).
-; OWORD - Octoword
+|-
-: 16 Bytes (128 bits).
+|'''QWORD''' (8 bytes)
-; YWORD
+|8 Bytes (64 bits).
-: 32 Bytes (256 bits).
+|}
 == Value types ==
-So these are the standard value types:
+{|width="85%" cellpadding="10%" cellpadding="5%" cellspacing="0" border="0"
-; Bit
+!align="left"|Value type
-: Unsigned integer.
+!align="left"|Base size
-; Byte
+!style="width: 70%;" align="left"|Description
-: (Un)signed integer.
+|-
-; 2 byte - WORD
+|'''Bit'''
-: (Un)signed integer.
+|1 bit
-; 4 Bytes - DWORD
+|Unsigned integer.
-: (Un)signed integer.
+|-
-; 8 Bytes - QWORD
+|'''Byte'''
-: (Un)signed integer.
+|1 byte
-; Float - DWORD
+|Signed or unsigned integer.
-: Single precision floating point.
+|-
-; Double - QWORD
+|'''WORD'''
-: Double precision floating point.
+|2 bytes
-; Text / String
+|Signed or unsigned integer.
-: A string of text characters (any length).
+|-
-: Can be ASCII or Unicode (wide) encoded.
+|'''DWORD'''
-; Array of bytes / AOB
+|4 bytes
-: An array of bytes (any length).
+|Signed or unsigned integer.
-: Represented as a string of bytes.
+|-
 == Going further ==
 * [[Tutorials:Pointers|Pointers]]
 == Sources ==

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 </blockquote>
-Now you will tend to hear that all values are stored in hexadecimal format, but really it's that all computers will convert the stored binary to hexadecimal when displaying the data else it's alway binary bits (until quantum computers are standard).
+Now you will tend to hear that all values are stored in hexadecimal format, but really it's that all computers will convert the stored binary to hexadecimal when displaying the data.
 Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal Hexadecimal] is just a base 16 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeral_system number system], [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal decimal] is a base 10, and [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_number binary] is a base 2.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 Now you will tend to hear that all values are stored in hexadecimal format, but really it's that all computers will convert the stored binary to hexadecimal when displaying the data else it's alway binary bits (until quantum computers are standard).
-Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal Hexadecimal] is just a base 16 number system, [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal decimal] is a base 10, and [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_number binary] is a base 2.
+Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal Hexadecimal] is just a base 16 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeral_system number system], [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal decimal] is a base 10, and [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_number binary] is a base 2.
 So bytes are like the base data units, and we can store any ASCII character in a byte. You'll very often come across size names like ''WORD'' and ''DWORD''. "In computing, a word is the natural unit of data used by a particular processor design"<small>[1]</small>. And that's the definition that was used for assembly initially as well. When computers used 8 bit processors a ''WORD'' was 1 byte, when they were 16 bit a ''WORD'' was 2 bytes, however computers starting becoming really popular around the time of 32 bit processors and for maximum compatibility assemblers stopped using that definition and just stuck with a ''WORD'' being 2 bytes. So even though the natural unit for a 32 bit processor is 4 bytes and 8 for a 64 bit processor a ''WORD'' is always 2 bytes and a ''DWORD'' (double word) is always 4 bytes.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 <blockquote style="color:gray;">
-	Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode Unicode] was introduced to handle multiple languages, and is based on ASCII.
+	Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode Unicode] was introduced to handle multiple languages, and is based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII ASCII].
 	<br />
-	Side note: ASCII was based on telegraph code, and started out as a 7 bit system.
+	Side note: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII ASCII] was based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph_code telegraph code], and started out as a 7 bit system.
 </blockquote>

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 A bit is a binary digit. So a bit is a zero or a one. Bits are implemented in computer hardware using switches. If the switch is closed (on) then the bit is one and if the switch is open (off) then the bit is zero. A bit is limited to representing two values, since it's a base two.
-Since the English alphabet contains more than two letters, a letter cannot be represented by a bit. A byte is a sequence of bits. Since the mid 1960's a byte has been 8 bits in length. ''01000001'' is an example of a byte. Since there are 8 bits in a byte there are 2<sup>8</sup> different possible sequences for one byte, ranging from ''00000000'' to ''11111111''. This means that a byte can be used to represent any type of value with no more than 2<sup>8</sup> = 256 possible values. Since the number of things that you can enter on a computer keyboard is smaller than 256 (including all key stoke pairs, like shift or control plus another key), a code for a key stoke is represented with a code within a byte.<small>[1]</small>
+Since the English alphabet contains more than two letters, a letter cannot be represented by a bit. A byte is a sequence of bits. Since the mid 1960's a byte has been 8 bits in length. ''01000001'' is an example of a byte. Since there are 8 bits in a byte there are 2<sup>8</sup> different possible sequences for one byte, ranging from ''00000000'' to ''11111111''. This means that a byte can be used to represent any type of value with no more than 2<sup>8</sup> = 256 possible values. Since the number of things that you can enter on a computer keyboard is smaller than 256 (including all key stoke pairs, like shift or control plus another key), a code for a key stoke is represented with a code within a byte.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_(computer_architecture)]
 <blockquote style="color:gray;">
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Note: [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal Hexadecimal] is just a base 16 number system, [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal decimal] is a base 10, and [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_number binary] is a base 2.
-So bytes are like the base data units, and we can store any ASCII character in a byte. You'll very often come across size names like ''WORD'' and ''DWORD''. "In computing, a word is the natural unit of data used by a particular processor design"[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_(computer_architecture)]. And that's the definition that was used for assembly initially as well. When computers used 8 bit processors a ''WORD'' was 1 byte, when they were 16 bit a ''WORD'' was 2 bytes, however computers starting becoming really popular around the time of 32 bit processors and for maximum compatibility assemblers stopped using that definition and just stuck with a ''WORD'' being 2 bytes. So even though the natural unit for a 32 bit processor is 4 bytes and 8 for a 64 bit processor a ''WORD'' is always 2 bytes and a ''DWORD'' (double word) is always 4 bytes.
+So bytes are like the base data units, and we can store any ASCII character in a byte. You'll very often come across size names like ''WORD'' and ''DWORD''. "In computing, a word is the natural unit of data used by a particular processor design"<small>[1]</small>. And that's the definition that was used for assembly initially as well. When computers used 8 bit processors a ''WORD'' was 1 byte, when they were 16 bit a ''WORD'' was 2 bytes, however computers starting becoming really popular around the time of 32 bit processors and for maximum compatibility assemblers stopped using that definition and just stuck with a ''WORD'' being 2 bytes. So even though the natural unit for a 32 bit processor is 4 bytes and 8 for a 64 bit processor a ''WORD'' is always 2 bytes and a ''DWORD'' (double word) is always 4 bytes.
 == Signs ==

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 == Floating points ==
-In memory there are no fractions nor decimal points, but a floating decimal point system was setup. It uses an approximation so as to support a trade-off between range and precision. Now there are other ways of representing a fractional numbers like [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_arithmetic fixed point], [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary-coded_decimal binary coded decimal], or [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithmic_number_system logarithmic number systems]. But the [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating-point_arithmetic floating point] representation is by far the most common way of representing an approximation of real numbers in a computer's memory, but there are both single and double precision floating points.<small>[3]</small>
+In memory there are no fractions nor decimal points, but a floating decimal point system was setup. It uses an approximation so as to support a trade-off between range and precision. Now there are other ways of representing a fractional numbers like [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-point_arithmetic fixed point], [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary-coded_decimal binary coded decimal], or [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Logarithmic_number_system logarithmic number systems]. But the [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating-point_arithmetic floating point] representation is by far the most common way of representing an approximation of real numbers in a computer's memory, but there are both single and double precision floating points.[https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating-point_arithmetic]
 == Value sizes ==

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 In memory there is no direct way to represent a negative number, this is done in varying ways to simplify the arithmetic.
-An unsigned byte (not allowing negative numbers) can hold 0 to 255, while a signed byte (allowing negative numbers) can hold -128 to 127.<small>[2]</small>
+An unsigned byte (not allowing negative numbers) can hold 0 to 255, while a signed byte (allowing negative numbers) can hold -128 to 127.[https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Signed_number_representations]
 == Floating points ==