log2(n);
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| n | The input value. |
Returns: Real
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.
colourbits = floor(log2(colour)) - 1;
The above code stores the number of bits needed to represent the value stored in the variable "colour".