Numeric data types

In our previous discussion of data types, we lumped all numeric data together; however, Visual Basic has several numeric data types. The following table lists several of them:

Type Fix/Float Range Required
Memory

Byte Fixed-point 0 to 255 1 byte

Short Fixed-point -32,768 to 32,767 2 bytes

Integer Fixed-point -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 4 bytes

Long Fixed point -9,223,372,036,854,774,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,774,807 8 bytes

Single precision Floating-point +/- 1.4E-45 to 3.4E38 4 bytes

Double precision Floating-point +/- 4.9E-324 to 1.8E308 8 bytes

Type	Fix/Float	Range	Required Memory
Byte	Fixed-point	0 to 255	1 byte
Short	Fixed-point	-32,768 to 32,767	2 bytes
Integer	Fixed-point	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647	4 bytes
Long	Fixed point	-9,223,372,036,854,774,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,774,807	8 bytes
Single precision	Floating-point	+/- 1.4E-45 to 3.4E38	4 bytes
Double precision	Floating-point	+/- 4.9E-324 to 1.8E308	8 bytes

Type The name of the data type.

Fix/Float: Indicates whether it is a floating-point or fixed-point number. Floating point numbers have decimal points while fixed point or whole numbers do not.

Range: The maximum and minimum values for each numeric type are shown next. The floating-point ranges are shown in scientific notation. For example, 1.8E308, means 1.8 multiplied by 10 to the 308 power -- an unimaginably large number.

Required memory: The amount of memory required for a number of this type.