[plug] Press Release: Richard Sharpe & NS Computer Software g aincontracts on open source software

[Shackleton, Kevin]

Complement means "that which completes".  In a binary world that's close to
"invert" or "opposite" but not the meaning of the word.

K.

> ----------
> From: 	Christian[SMTP:christian at amnet.net.au]
> 
> On Wed, Jul 26, 2000 at 11:08:58AM +0800, Leon Brooks wrote:
>  
>  
> > BTW, Richard, "complement" is a poor word to use in the computer world,
> > as it also means "invert" or "opposite", as in ~0 == MAXINT.
> 
> It's been a while since I programmed 16-bit Pascal but I recall MAXINT
> being 32767.  Therefore ~0 == -1.  Also, regardless of whether
> we're in the "computer world" or not, we're still speaking English so
> it's perfectly valid usage.
>