4 ms·
Binary Coded Decimal was also popular - eg most processors included instructions for operating that way. You need 4 bits for a BCD digit, so a multiple of 4 bi
by rogerbinns 3y ago
Binary Coded Decimal was also popular - eg most processors included instructions for operating that way. You need 4 bits for a BCD digit, so a multiple of 4 bits is convenient.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary-coded_decimal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary-coded_decimal
- rahen 3y agoSome early computers even had a dual-mode (binary / BCD) ALU: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Gamma_3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Gamma_3
- teo_zero 3y agoThe glorious 6502 had a flag to perform all arithmetic operations in BCD.
- Animats 3y agoIBM mainframes still do. It's used by COBOL.[1] [1] https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cobol-zos/6.4?topic=arithmetic-sign-representation-zoned-packed-decimal-data https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cobol-zos/6.4?topic=arithmetic-s...