Binary data Binary data Binary data is data whose unit can take on only two possible states, traditionally labeled as 0 and 1 in accordance with the binary numeral system and Boolean algebra. Binary data occurs in many different technical and scientific fields, where it can be called by different names: A discrete variable that can take only one state contains zero information, and is the next natural number after 1. That is why the bit, a variable with only two possible values, is a standard primary unit of information. A collection of bits may have states: see binary number for details.
Binary GCD algorithm Binary GCD algorithm The binary GCD algorithm, also known as Stein's algorithm, is an algorithm that computes the greatest common divisor of two nonnegative integers. Stein's algorithm uses simpler arithmetic operations than the conventional Euclidean algorithm; it replaces division with arithmetic shifts, comparisons, and subtraction. Although the algorithm was first published by the Israeli physicist and programmer Josef Stein in 1967, it may have been known in 1st-century China. The algorithm reduces the problem of finding the GCD by repeatedly applying these identities: The algorithm requires O(n) worst-case time, where n is the number of bits in the larger of