The C Programming Language
velox_vulnus
•
2w ago
•
83%
How is MS-DOS able to store seconds in just 5 bit-field?
Second representation requires at least 6 bits to represent numbers between 0 to 59. But 5 bits are not just enough - 2^5^ = 32, which can only represent from 0 up to 31 seconds.
According to K.N. King:
You may be wondering how it 's possible to store the seconds - a number between 0 and 59 in a field with only 5 bits. Well. DOS cheats: it divides the number of seconds by 2, so the seconds member is actually between 0 and 29.
That really makes no sense?
Comments 15