Re: OT: Number bases

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Henrik Theiling <theiling@...> wrote:
> Yeah, of course, I'm using unsigned/signed numbers, too when I program
> in C/C++.  But in a balanced ternary system, there's no space saving
> for unsigned numbers
Sure, but that's similar to saying "in two's complement, there's no
space savings for unsigned numbers".  Balanced ternary is just an
interpretation of ternary logic; by itself, ternary logic could just
as easily be unsigned: three trits have 27 different states, which
represent -13 through +13 in balanced ternary, but 0 through 26 in
regular old ternary.  So there's still the same tradeoff.

> one cause of confusion would be eliminated: a balanced ternary computer system does
> not have 'natural' unsigned numbers.
Yes, but ternary logic by itself is not "balanced" - that's an
interpretation placed on it by the logic, just as "two's complement"
is an interpretation placed on binary logic.

--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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