Largest number is mathematically meaningless (since in the usual system of integers, any number may be increased by adding one to it); however, the term may refer to:
- Names of large numbers, for the largest numbers with names
- Infinity, a concept which can be used as a largest number in some contexts
- Graham's number, once claimed as the largest number ever used in a serious mathematical proof
- Large numbers, for notations to exactly specify very large numbers
In computers:
- The constant 32767, 2147483647, or 9223372036854775807, in a word of 16, 32, or 64 bits in two's-complement format
- The constant 65535, 4294967295, or 18446744073709551615, in a word of 16, 32, or 64 bits with no sign bit
- The constant 3.4028235e+38 or 1.7976931348623157e+308, in a word of 32 or 64 bits using the binary IEEE 754-2008 floating-point representation
Famous quotes containing the words largest and/or number:
“...I believed passionately that Communists were a race of horned men who divided their time equally between the burning of Nancy Drew books and the devising of a plan of nuclear attack that would land the largest and most lethal bomb squarely upon the third-grade class of Thomas Jefferson School in Morristown, New Jersey.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“I happen to feel that the degree of a person’s intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic.”
—Lisa Alther (b. 1944)