Integer overflow: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:45, 13 January 2018

Revision as of 16:48, 5 February 2018

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[[Image:Odometer rollover.jpg|thumb|250px|Integer overflow can be demonstrated through an [[Odometerodometer]] overflowing, a mechanical version of the phenomenon. All digits are set to the maximum 9 and the next increment of the white digit causes a cascade of carry-over additions setting all digits to 0, but there is no higher digit to change to a 1, so the counter resets to zero. This is ''wrapping'' in contrast to ''saturating''.]]

In [[computer programming]], an '''integer overflow''' occurs when an [[arithmetic]] operation attempts to create a numeric value that is outside of the range that can be represented with a given number of bits – either larger than the maximum or lower than the minimum representable value.