underflow
Speech parts
1. underflow - Noun
2. underflow - Verb
Meaning
A current flowing below the surface.
(computing) A condition in which the value of a computed quantity is smaller than the smallest non-zero value that can be physically stored; usually treated as an error condition
(computing) The error condition that results from an attempt to retrieve an item from an empty stack
underflow (third-person singular simple present underflows, present participle underflowing, simple past and past participle underflowed)
(computing) To trigger the condition in which the value of a computed quantity is smaller than the smallest non-zero value that can be physically stored.
Synonyms
Anagrams
Examples
Arithmetic operations can overflow or underflow, producing a value too large or too small to be represented.
In extreme cases, all significant digits of precision can be lost (although gradual underflow ensures that the result will not be zero unless the two operands were equal).
Morphology and evolution of an anastomosed channel network where saline underflow enters the Black Sea.
Queue overflow results from trying to add an element onto a full queue and queue underflow happens when trying to remove an element from an empty queue.
Subnormal numbers main Subnormal values fill the underflow gap with values where the absolute distance between them are the same as for adjacent values just outside the underflow gap.
The arguments over gradual underflow lasted until 1981 when an expert commissioned by DEC to assess it sided against the dissenters.