Explain Fixed Point Representation In Computer Science

Introduction:

In computer science, a fixed point representation, also known as a fixed radix, a term which is sometimes used interchangeably, is a way of representing numbers in a computer without using floating point numbers. In a fixed point representation, a certain number of digits, or bits, of the binary representation of the number are used as the "decimal" or "whole" part of the number, and the rest of the bits are used as the "fraction" part of the number.

Fixed Point Implementation of Computation

A fixed point is a location in a data structure that always points to the same data. Think of a mailbox where the postman always puts the mail in the same place. The mailbox is the fixed point. In computer science, we use fixed points to implement certain types of computations. This is especially useful when dealing with recursive data structures, where we need to traverse the data structure a certain number of times. By implementing the computation using a fixed point, we can guarantee that the traversal will always terminate.

What Is Fixed Point Representation

Fixed point representation is a way of representing numbers in a computer. Unlike the binary number system that uses 0s and 1s, fixed point representation uses a certain number of digits after the decimal point. This means that a number like 1.234 can be represented as 1.234, 000 or 1.234, 0000 depending on how many digits are used after the decimal point. Fixed point representation is often used when working with fractions and decimal points, as it makes it easier to represent and work with numbers that have fractional values.

Any Representative for Any Number

Fixed point representation is a method used in computer science to represent any number in a fixed point number system. This is done by multiplying the number by a fixed point value, which is a number that is always the same. For example, the number 1 can be represented by the fixed point value 1, the number 2 can be represented by the fixed point value 2, and so on. This is a convenient way to represent numbers because it allows for precise calculations and avoids possible errors that could occur when working with decimal numbers.

No Harm or Embarrassment for Computing

One of the benefits of fixed point representation is that it doesn't cause any harm or embarrassment to the person doing the computing. Unlike other methods, like decimal or binary, fixed point representation doesn't involve any sort of conversion or calculation. This means that the number is represented in the same form no matter where it's used. This can be really helpful when dealing with fractions or decimal points, which can be tricky to work with. For example, if you're working with a fraction like 1/4, it's much easier to use fixed point representation than to try and convert it to binary or decimal.

Fixed Point Algebra

Fixed point representation is a way of representing numbers in a computer. In particular, it's a way to represent fractional or decimal numbers as fixed point numbers. This is done by using a base number and a multiplier. The multiplier is used to move the decimal point to the right or left, depending on the desired representation. For instance, the number 1.5 can be represented as 1.5 × 100, which would give us a fixed point number of 150. This number can then be used in calculations just like any other number.

Conclusion:

In this video, we will learn about fixed point representation in computer science. There are three main types of implementations with the floating point numbers: float, double and long double. In all of these representations, a large number is represented by a specific pattern of bits called mantissa. We'll find out what it means when we say that a certain bit has been set to one or zero value in the rest of the video!