CMU Computer Systems: Bits, Bytes, and Integers

Everything is bits

• Each bit is 0 or 1
• By encoding/interpreting sets of bits in various ways
• Why bits? Electronic Implementation

Encoding Byte Values

• Byte = 8 bits
  

Boolean Algebra

• Developed by George Boole in 19th Century
• Operate on Bit Vectors
• All of the Properties of Boolean Algebra Apply

Representing & Manipulating Sets

• Representation
• Operations
  • & Intersection
  • | Union
  • ^ Symmetric difference
  • ~ Complement

Logic Operations in C

• Contrast to Logical Operators
  • &&, ||, !

Shift Operations

• Left Shift: x << y
• Right Shift: x >> y
• Undefined Behavior

Numeric Ranges

• Unsigned Values
• Two’s Complement Values
• Other Values

Signed vs. Unsigned in C

• Constants
• Casting

Casting Signed <=> Unsigned: Basic Rules

• Bit pattern is maintained
• But reinterpreted
• Can have unexpected effects: adding or subtracting 2^w

Expanding, Truncating: Basic Rules

• Expanding

  • Unsigned: zeros added
  • Signed: sign extension
  • Both yield expected result

• Truncating

  • Unsigned/sighed: bits are truncated
  • Result reinterpreted
  • Unsigned: mod operation
  • Signed: similar to mod
  • For small numbers yields expected behavior

Addition, negation, multiplication, shifting

• Unsigned Addition
• Two’s Complement Addition
• Multiplication
  • Unsigned Multiplication
  • Signed Multiplication
• Power-of-2 Multiply with Shift
• Unsigned Power-of-2 Divide with Shift
  • >>>: logical shift
  • >>: arithmetical shift
  • Counting Down with Unsigned
  • Use unsigned when performing modular arithmetic or using bits to represent sets
• Representations in memory, pointers, strings
  • Byte-Oriented Memory Organization
  • Machine Words
  • Word-Oriented Memory Organization
  • Byte Ordering