• make -j8@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    22 hours ago

    why did they only use an 8-bit number to count billionaires , surely there are more of em

    /dumbface

      • make -j8@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        20 hours ago

        it’s 255 for maximum index, but still 256 for maximum count though lol but agreed, 255 would be more obvious

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          19 hours ago

          Well still 255 for maximum count if you’re using an 8-bit number to COUNT billionaires like your initial comment said - but if you’re using an 8-bit number to index your collection of billionaires, then yes, you could get up to 256.

          For counting we should always at least have the possibility of a 0 value, hence we count actual billionaires from 1-255. With indexing, 0 is already the first billionaire, so we get billionaires from 0-255, or a total of 256