log2

This function basically asks "how many 2's do you need to multiply to get n?". A common example of use in programming would be to calculate the number of bits that are needed to represent a number. To do this we calculate the log2(x) of the number, round it down and add 1 - for example log2(100) returns 6.643856, which rounded down is 6, to which we add one and it gives us 7. So we need 7 bits to represent 100. It can also be used for describing exponential growth or decay, and is often called a binary logarithm.

 

Syntax:

log2(n);

ArgumentType Description
nReal The input value.

 

Returns:

Real

 

Example:

colourbits = floor(log2(colour)) - 1;

The above code stores the number of bits needed to represent the value stored in the variable "colour".