Fundamental Data Types

Question 1

Smallest unit of memory

Answer 1

binary digit, known as a bit

Question 2

Smallest amount of memory that can be addressed directly

Answer 2

a byte

Question 3

sizeof

Answer 3

can be used to return the size of a type in bytes

Question 4

signed integers - explain.

2 things to watch out for

Answer 4

used for holding positive and negative whole numbers, including 0. The set of values that a specific data type can hold is called its range.

When using integers, keep an eye out for overflow and integer division problems.

Question 5

Unsigned integers

Answer 5

only hold positive numbers (and 0), and should generally be avoided unless you’re doing bit-level manipulation

Question 6

Fixed-width integers

Answer 6

are integers with guaranteed sizes, but they may not exist on all architectures.

The fast and least integers are the fastest and smallest integers that are at least some size.

std::int8_t and std::uint8_t should generally be avoided, as they tend to behave like chars instead of integers

Question 7

size_t

Answer 7

is an unsigned integral type that is used to represent the size or length of objects

Question 8

Floating point precision

Answer 8

defines how many significant digits it can represent without information loss

Question 9

rounding error

Answer 9

when too many significant digits are stored in a floating point number that can’t hold that much precision

Question 10

floating point number gotcha

Answer 10

don’t compare them directly because of rounding errors