Comparison of instruction set architectures: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:11, 8 May 2024

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== Data representation ==

In the early decades of computing, there were computers that used [[Binary number|binary]], [[Decimal computer|decimal]]<ref>{{cite web|last=da Cruz|first=Frank|title=The IBM Naval Ordnance Research Calculator|publisher=Columbia University Computing History|date=October 18, 2004|url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/norc.html|access-date=May 8, 2024}}</ref> and even [[Ternary computer|ternary]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computer-museum.ru/english/galglory_en/Brusentsov.htm|title=Russian Virtual Computer Museum _ Hall of Fame _ Nikolay Petrovich Brusentsov}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Trogemann|first1=Georg|last2=Nitussov|first2=Alexander Y.|last3=Ernst|first3=Wolfgang|isbn=978-3-528-05757-2|pages=19, 55, 57, 91, 104-107104–107|publisher=Vieweg+Teubner Verlag|title=Computing in Russia: the history of computer devices and information technology revealed|year=2001}}.</ref> Contemporary computers are almost exclusively binary.

Characters are encoded as strings of bits or digits, using a wide variety of character sets; even within a single manufacturer there were character set differences.