A computational tool designed for operating within the base-2 number system and employing a specific method for representing signed integers. This method involves inverting all the bits of a binary number and adding one, allowing negative numbers to be represented without a separate sign bit. For instance, representing -5 in 8-bit form starts with the binary representation of 5 (00000101), inverting it (11111010), and adding one (11111011), yielding the final representation.
This methodology is significant due to its simplification of arithmetic operations within digital circuits. By representing negative numbers in this way, addition and subtraction can be performed using the same circuitry, leading to more efficient hardware designs. Furthermore, it provides a unique representation for zero, avoiding the ambiguity of having both a positive and negative zero. Its adoption significantly impacted the development of early computing systems, enabling more reliable and efficient data processing.