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0 pointstyingq6y ago0 comments

It seems to just be layman shorthand for storing (not huge) integers as binary isn't lossy.

0 comments

Storing integers as decimal (which computers can do easily) isn't lossy either.

I believe that's where "natively" comes in. If you store it in binary, you can operate on the values as numbers. If you do some decimal conversion, it's a blob of data. (Yes, there are BCD instructions but they're massively limited)

SmellyGeekBoy6y ago

Decimal numbers are still "stored as binary" at the silicon level.

mondoshawan6y ago

Unless you're on an IBM 1401... :D

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tyingqOP6y ago

I meant as opposed to floats, precision loss, etc.

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