Number Formats: The Representation of Large Numbers in C

Abstract

One of the first steps in creating a function library for calculating with large numbers is to determine how large numbers are to represented in the computer’s main memory. It is necessary to plan carefully, since decisions made at this point will be difficult to revise at a later time. Changes to the internal structure of a software library are always possible, but the user interface should be kept as stable as possible in the sense of “upward compatibility.”

So I have made up my own system for writing large numbers and I am going to use this chapter as a chance to explain it

—Isaac Asimov, Adding a Dimension

The process that has led to the higher organization of this form could also be imagined differently

—J. Weber, Form, Motion, Color