Two's complement to One's complement converter name - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: LaryPant
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2020, 11:39:59 pm
content: Hello there,I am working on a digital logic assignment for uni - this is not a homework question but one of semantics.The course is pretty basic and we are working with Boolean algebra and discrete logic circuits. One of the tasks is to design a Two's complement to One's complement converter, which in itself is fairly simple, but got me thinking: Does it make sense to call it acomplement converter?Because I am teried of having to write "Two's complement to One's complement converter" every time I mention it - it makes for a very dull read.I tried looking in bothDigital Computer Electronicsand Roth'sFundamentals of Logic Designbut I found no real answer as none of them explain why it is called Two's and One's complement respectively.Luckily Wikipedia had the answer to why it is called that:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two%27s_complement. (It was never mentioned in my course.)But I still have no idea if I can call it acomplement converter.And yes, I know that if I were to saycomplement convertereverybody would know what I mean, but I am looking for a more academic answer. I am also going to ask my lecturer about it, but I was curious to get a few more inputs to this as this seems to be a very interesting question of semantics and definitions and maybe other people have wondered about this or will do in the future.Or maybe I am just missing something very obvious, but thanks in advance!Lary

author: LaryPant
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2020, 11:48:06 pm
content: Or maybe just complementer?

author: retiredfeline
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2020, 11:54:51 pm
content: Complement reducer

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 12:14:50 am
content: I hope you don't waste too much time worrying about it. It is well established art.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 12:20:23 am
content: Complerter.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 12:23:26 am
content: format converter?

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 01:39:22 am
content: Why does it have to have its own special name?

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 01:48:29 am
content: How about:DOWN - COMPLEMENTER

author: retiredfeline
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 02:40:25 am
content: Transcomplementer

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 02:50:03 am
content: You can call it a decrementer.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 03:28:08 am
content: ALUhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic_logic_unit

author: Zeyneb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 03:49:45 am
content: Well if this was posted on the 1st of April. I'd think, hey, that's a good one.For me it's hard to imagine this semantic topic caught your attention.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 01:42:51 pm
content: Insulter(The opposite of a complementer?)

author: retiredfeline
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 01:48:13 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on December 09, 2020, 01:42:51 pmDon't you mean insultir?

author: Tom45
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 04:07:57 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on December 09, 2020, 01:42:51 pmInsulter would be the opposite of a complimenter.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2020, 04:42:06 pm
content: Quote from: Tom45 on December 09, 2020, 04:07:57 pmGood catch, apparently the antonym of a complement is a contrast. Makes sense.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2020, 10:19:58 pm
content: Quote from: LaryPant on December 08, 2020, 11:39:59 pmThe standard practice for complicated descriptions is to describe it fully at the beginning, then naming the short form, and using the short form for the rest of the paper. For example:This paper describes a circuit converting between Two's Complement and One's Complement integer representations (henceforthcomplement converter).It's simple, unambiguous, and you only need to use the full name in the title, abstract, and the first paragraph of the body.As to the circuit itself, don't forget that not all integers are negative. (I mean, the representation of positive integers is the same in both conventions.)Also do consider what you want to do with value or values that can only be represented in one, but not the other.