Why does the place of the apostrophes differ in the following two titles?
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two's_complement
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ones'_complement
Which one is the correct?
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Laurel
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user2635204
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They are both corrects. Multiple ones and a singular two. – Matt E. Эллен Jan 08 '14 at 16:37
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Grammatically all the following are correct:
- Two's complement = complement of a single 2
- Twos' complement = complement of a number of twos (plural)
- One's complement = complement of a single 1
- Ones' complement = complement of a number of ones (plural)
The Wikipedia articles (Ones' complement, Two's complement) describe two's complement and ones' complement as two different mathematical operations. Two's complement is related to a single 2 (to the power of another number) while ones' complement is related to a number of 1s so both are correct.
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I got it, the subtrahend (funny name) is subtracted from the minuend that in the 2's case is 2^4 = 10000 and in the 1s' case is many ones 1111 (for 4 bit representation). Thanks! – user2635204 Jan 09 '14 at 17:47