Data Representation - Floating Point

These flashcards cover key concepts and terminology related to floating-point representation as discussed in the lecture.

Floating Point

A method of representing real numbers in a way that can accommodate a wide range of values by using a fixed number of digits.

IEEE 754

A standard for floating-point arithmetic in computer systems, defining formats for binary and decimal exponents.

Normalization

The process of adjusting the representation of a floating-point number to conform to a standardized format.

Mantissa

The significant digits of a floating-point number, representing its precision.

Exponential Notation

A way of expressing numbers as a multiple of a base raised to an exponent.

Bias System

A way to represent both positive and negative exponents in floating point, usually by adding a constant value to the actual exponent.

Overflow

Condition when a number exceeds the maximum limit that can be represented.

Underflow

Condition when a number is too small to be represented accurately, effectively becoming zero.

Excess-N Notation

A form of representation for exponents that adds a fixed number (N) to the actual exponent.

Sign-Magnitude Format

A representation of numbers where one bit indicates the sign (positive or negative) and the remaining bits represent the magnitude.

Mantissa Sign Representation

The indication of positive or negative mantissa in excess-N notation, where 0 represents positive and 5 represents negative.

Precision

The exactness of representation in the number of significant digits.

Decimal Radix Point

The point in a number that separates the whole part from the fractional part.

Mantissa Location

The placement of the mantissa in relation to the decimal point in a floating-point representation.

Scientific Notation

A mathematical expression of a number as a coefficient multiplied by 10 raised to an exponent.

Standardized Format

A consistent way of representing floating point numbers across different systems following a specific standard.