Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cdss!culliton
From: culliton@cdss.UUCP (Tom Culliton x2278)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Breadking 4 billion n
Summary: Does The FAQ cover this issue (limits of char, short, int long, etc.)
	 If not it should....
Keywords: int, 4 billion, C
Message-ID: <12@cdss.UUCP>
Date: 9 Aug 90 19:58:57 GMT
References: <3271@stl.stc.co.uk> <4308@tahoe.unr.edu>
Distribution: comp.lang.c
Organization: ARINC Research Corp., Annapolis, MD, SRG Group
Lines: 14

Don't you hate new programmers, don't you wish someone would take them
aside and hand them a copy of the FAQ before turning them loose on the
net? Don't you wish you had never done anything this embarassing
yourself? (I know I have...)

The quick answer is that of course you can't go beyond 2^32 in an
integeral type on a 32 bit machine.  (Yes there are ways around it, but
not using the native types in C) Integer math in most programming
languages has finite limits.  (Just like a hand held calculator or a
slide rule) And the best thing that can be said about floating point or
"real" math is that its a matter of approximations within finite limits
of precision.  (again like a calculator or slide rule)  Plum's "Learning
to Program in C" (Plum Hall, 1983 ISBN 0-911537-00-7) has a decent
introduction to computer math.