quartz/content/notes/digital-data.md
2022-07-14 20:01:09 +12:00

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---
title: "digital-data"
aliases:
tags:
- cosc204
---
# What is data
- A facta piece of information
- corresponds to discreete facts about phenomena from which we gain information abou the world
- The concept of a *value* is fundamental to data
- e.g., 25, $356.00, April, "this is a sentence", colours etc
- Vaues are abstract, they are interpretations of data
- There are many way of storing the same data
- e.g., 12, twelve, XII, 1100, · ··, ·----··---
# How computers represent data
- In *Binary*
- Stored in one of two states, true/false, 1/0, on/off, voltage/no voltage
- Each instance of a state is called a *bit*. (binary digit)
- *Values* are represented as a sequence of bits.
- e.g., 1000001
- The computer doesn't "know" what any given sequence means, **you** know.
- could be 65, A, or anything **You** want it to mean
# Bits, Nibbles, Bytes
- The smallest unit of storage is a buit (0 or 1)
- (for convenience) bit are grouped into larger units.
- a nibble is 4 bits
- a byte is 8 bits
- For convenience bytes are given addresses, not nibbles or bits. (they are too small to work with most of the time)
# Memory
Data is stored in [memory](notes/memory.md)
# A Word of memory
- The word is the number of bits the cpu uses internally, varies between manufacturers and CPUs.
- Now its usually 64 bits
- [amount of bits for different devices](https://i.imgur.com/nHrz1zX.png)
# Characters