Introduction

The representation of a word in binary format is 0000000000000000. To make it easier to read, you can group bits by 4, like this: 0000 0000 0000 0000. Therefore, the minimum binary value represented by a word is 0000 0000 0000 0000. The minimum decimal value of a word is 0. The minimum hexadecimal value you can store in a word is 0x0000000000000000. This is also represented as 0x00000000, or 0x0000, or 0x0. All these numbers produce the same value, which is 0x0.

The maximum binary value represented by a word is 1111 1111 1111 1111. To find out the maximum decimal value of a word, you can use the base 2 formula, filling out each bit with 1:

1*2¹⁵+1*2¹⁴+1*2¹³ + 1*2¹² + 1*2¹¹ + 1*2¹⁰ + 1*2⁹ + 1*2⁸ + 1*2⁷ + 1*2⁶ + 1*2⁵ + 1*2⁴ + 1*2³ + 1*2² + 1*2¹ + 1*2⁰

= 32768 + 16384 + 8192 + 4096 + 2048 + 1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1

= 65535

To find out the maximum hexadecimal number you can store in a word, replace every group of 4 bits with an f or F:

A word, which is a group of 16 contiguous bits or 2 bytes, can be used to hold a natural number. As we have studied, the maximum numeric value that can fit in a word is 65535. Since the byte is used to characters and very small numbers, whenever you plan to use a number in your program, the minimum representation you should use is a word.

A natural number is also called an integer. The smallest integer you can store in a word is declared with the short keyword followed by a name. Because a short integer is signed by default, it can store a value that ranges from –32768 to 32767. Here is an example program that uses two short integers:

using System;

class NumericRepresentation
{
	static void Main()
	{
		short NumberOfPages;
		short Temperature;

		NumberOfPages = 842;
		Temperature   = -1544;

		Console.Write("Number of Pages of the book: ");
		Console.WriteLine(NumberOfPages);
		Console.Write("Temperature to reach during the experiment: ");
		Console.Write(Temperature);
		Console.WriteLine(" degrees\n");
	}
}

This would produce:

Number of Pages of the book: 842
Temperature to reach during the experiment: -1544 degrees

Because a short integer handles numbers that are larger than the signed byte, any variable you can declare for a signed byte can also be declared for a short variable.

If a variable must hold positive and relatively small numbers, it is referred as an unsigned short integer. Such a variable can be declared using the ushort keyword. An unsigned short integer can hold numbers that range from 0 to 65535 and therefore can fit in 16 bits. Here is an example:

using System;

class NumericRepresentation
{
	static void Main()
	{
		// These variables must hold only positive integers
		ushort NumberOfTracks;
		ushort MusicCategory;

		NumberOfTracks = 16;
		MusicCategory  = 2;

		Console.Write("This music album contains ");
		Console.Write(NumberOfTracks);
		Console.WriteLine(" tracks");
		Console.Write("Music Category: ");
		Console.Write(MusicCategory);
		Console.WriteLine();
	}
}

This would produce:

This music album contains 16 tracks
Music Category: 2

1. To use unsigned short integers, change the file as follows:
    

   using System; class Program { static void Main() { byte shirts; byte pants; ushort otherItems; shirts = 4; pants = 0; otherItems = 3; Console.WriteLine("-/- Georgetown Cleaning Services -/-"); Console.WriteLine("========================"); Console.WriteLine("Item Type Qty"); Console.WriteLine("------------------------"); Console.Write("Shirts "); Console.WriteLine(shirts); Console.Write("Pants "); Console.WriteLine(pants); Console.Write("Other Items "); Console.WriteLine(otherItems); Console.WriteLine("========================"); Console.WriteLine(); } }

2. Execute the program. This would produce:
    

   -/- Georgetown Cleaning Services -/- ======================== Order Date: 7/15/2002 ------------------------ Item Type Qty ------------------------ Shirts 4 Pants 0 Other Items 3 ======================== Press any key to continue . . .

3. Close the DOS window