Long Integer

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Long Integer Mean?

A long integer is a data type in computer science whose range is greater (sometimes even double) than that of the standard data type integer. Depending on the programming language and the computer machine processor, the size of the long integer will vary. In some programming languages, the size of the long integer is standard and fixed across different platforms, while in others, it depends on the processor. There are certain programming languages that do not make use of long integers, but they are used in many programming languages for holding a long range of values, especially during mathematical computations.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Long Integer

Like a standard type integer, long integers are represented as a set of binary digits. Long integers can be unsigned (representation of non-negative integers) or signed (representation of negative integers). Most programming language have defined the minimum and maximum value of the integers that can be represented by long integers.

The size of long integers in different programming languages is as followers:

  • ANSI C: Minimum 4 bytes
  • C++: Minimum 4 bytes
  • Visual Basic: Minimum 8 bytes
  • SQL Server: Minimum 8 bytes
  • C#: Minimum 8 bytes
  • VB.Net: Minimum 8 bytes
  • Java: Minimum 8 bytes
  • Pascal: Minimum 8 bytes

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.