Obviously computers deal with numbers. But other types of data are encoded inside a computer's memory and processor circuits: sounds, colors, temperature levels, pictures, you name it. And all of these data are encoded using just 1s and 0s! In this chapter we learn the fundamentals of integer data representation and manipulation.

All digital computers use a variety of coding schemes to encode information, but almost all of these, except maybe for bitmapped pictures, depend upon storing numbers, usually integers. One example of a code that relies on integers is ASCII, the American Standard Code for Information Interchange which encodes characters. On page 2 is the full ASCII code for values from 0 to 127. The values 128 to 256 are reserved for special graphics characters.