Maybe so, maybe not...BUT....
For somebody that can't grasp the concept of splitting up numbers into smaller chunks, they might need to be reminded of the basics. And it's obvious to me that, while you might know how to make larger numbers out of a bunch of smaller numbers, didn't get what I was getting at the most basic level.
While some people might think that they can 'think' in base2/base8/base10 and base16 all at the same time, just because they can 'program a PIC', can they really?
'cause that's exactly what the O/P wanted to know...how to keep track (i.e. count, manipulate, etc.) numbers to large to fit in a byte/word (i.e. hand). Think about it. At the most basic level, all we can do is mess with a byte. How does PBP multiply 32bit numbers? It breaks them down to the byte level and plays with them as needed.
Way back in the day, before I had PBP and used to do nothing but assembly work (before I knew what I was doing really) on the PIC and needed to count large numbers to display on an LCD, I'd break the bytes up into BCD, and work with them that way. I could deal with virtually any size number that way, limited only by the amount of ram on the PIC.
So, condescending finger counting example?
Maybe...
If a person takes that example in the negative fashion, then just maybe that person hasn't learned as much as they thought they have.
Another quicky example of what I'm getting at... My wife can (and does) drive a relatively fast car. But she can't do a tune-up, rebuild the engine, or drive in the Indy 500.
In the end though, I think it would just be a lot easier for Isaac to figure out why his system isn't playing well with PBPL and LONG's.





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