Question
A video-streaming Web site keeps count of the number of times each video has been played since it was first added to the site. The count is updated each time a video is played and is displayed next to each video to show its popularity.
At one time, the count for the most popular video was about two million. Sometime later, the same video displayed a seven-digit negative number as its count, while the counts for the other videos displayed correctly.
Question
21
Mark for Review
Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the error?
The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.
Option A,The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.
The mathematical operations used to calculate the count caused a rounding error to occur.
Option B,The mathematical operations used to calculate the count caused a rounding error to occur.
The software used to update the count failed when too many videos were played simultaneously by too many users.
Option C,The software used to update the count failed when too many videos were played simultaneously by too many users.
The software used to update the count contained a sampling error when using digital data to approximate the analog count.
At one time, the count for the most popular video was about two million. Sometime later, the same video displayed a seven-digit negative number as its count, while the counts for the other videos displayed correctly.
Question
21
Mark for Review
Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the error?
The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.
Option A,The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.
The mathematical operations used to calculate the count caused a rounding error to occur.
Option B,The mathematical operations used to calculate the count caused a rounding error to occur.
The software used to update the count failed when too many videos were played simultaneously by too many users.
Option C,The software used to update the count failed when too many videos were played simultaneously by too many users.
The software used to update the count contained a sampling error when using digital data to approximate the analog count.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The most likely explanation for the error, where the count displayed a seven-digit negative number instead of a large positive number, is:
**Option A: The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.**
This situation is known as integer overflow. If the count variable used to track the number of plays for the video was stored in a data type that cannot accommodate numbers above a certain limit (for example, a signed 32-bit integer, which has a maximum value of 2,147,483,647), then when the actual count exceeded this limit, it could wrap around to the negative side, resulting in negative values being displayed.
**Option A: The count for the video became larger than the maximum value allowed by the data type used to store the count.**
This situation is known as integer overflow. If the count variable used to track the number of plays for the video was stored in a data type that cannot accommodate numbers above a certain limit (for example, a signed 32-bit integer, which has a maximum value of 2,147,483,647), then when the actual count exceeded this limit, it could wrap around to the negative side, resulting in negative values being displayed.