The term arithmetic overflow or simply overflow has the following meanings.

1. In a computer
   Computer
   A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
   
   , the condition that occurs when a calculation produces a result that is greater in magnitude than that which a given register
   Processor register
   In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available as part of a CPU or other digital processor. Such registers are addressed by mechanisms other than main memory and can be accessed more quickly...
   
    or storage
   Computer storage
   Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
   
    location can store or represent.
2. In a computer, the amount by which a calculated value is greater than that which a given register or storage location can store or represent. Note that the overflow may be placed at another location.

Most computers distinguish between two kinds of overflow conditions. A carry occurs when the result of an addition or subtraction, considering the operands and result as unsigned numbers, does not fit in the result. Therefore, it is useful to check the carry flag

Carry flag

In computer processors the carry flag is a single bit in a system status register used to indicate when an arithmetic carry or borrow has been generated out of the most significant ALU bit position...

 after adding or subtracting numbers that are interpreted as unsigned values. An overflow proper occurs when the result does not have the sign that one would predict from the signs of the operands (e.g. a negative result when adding two positive numbers). Therefore, it is useful to check the overflow flag

Overflow flag

In computer processors, the overflow flag is usually a single bit in a system status register used to indicate when an arithmetic overflow has occurred in an operation, indicating that the signed two's-complement result would not fit in the number of bits used for the operation...

 after adding or subtracting numbers that are represented in two's complement

Two's complement

The two's complement of a binary number is defined as the value obtained by subtracting the number from a large power of two...

 form (i.e. they are considered signed numbers).

There are several methods of handling overflow:

1. Design: by selecting correct data types, both length and signed/unsigned.
2. Avoidance: by carefully ordering operations and checking operands in advance, it is possible to ensure that the result will never be larger than can be stored.
3. Handling: If it is anticipated that overflow may occur and when it happens detected and other processing done. Example: it is possible to add two numbers each two bytes wide using just a byte addition in steps: first add the low bytes then add the high bytes, but if it is necessary to carry out of the low bytes this is arithmetic overflow of the byte addition and it necessary to detect and increment the sum of the high bytes. CPUs
   Central processing unit
   The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
   
    generally have a way of detecting this to support addition of numbers larger than their register size, typically using a status bit.
4. Propagation: if a value is too large to be stored it can be assigned a special value indicating that overflow has occurred and then have all successive operation return this flag value. This is useful so that the problem can be checked for once at the end of a long calculation rather than after each step. This is often supported in Floating Point Hardware called FPU
   Floating point unit
   A floating-point unit is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root...
   
   s.
5. Ignoring: This is the most common approach, but it gives incorrect results and can compromise a program's security.

Division by zero

Division by zero

In mathematics, division by zero is division where the divisor is zero. Such a division can be formally expressed as a / 0 where a is the dividend . Whether this expression can be assigned a well-defined value depends upon the mathematical setting...

 is not a form of arithmetic overflow. Mathematically, division by zero within reals is explicitly undefined if the problem is zero divided by zero, and is defined as either positive or negative infinity depending on the signs of the numbers involved, or is undefined.

An unhandled arithmetic overflow was the primary cause of the crash of Ariane 5 Flight 501

Ariane 5 Flight 501

Cluster was a constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft which were launched on the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 rocket, Flight 501, and subsequently lost when that rocket failed to achieve orbit. The launch, which took place on Tuesday, June 4, 1996, ended in failure due to an error...

.

See also

• IEEE 754
• Integer overflow
  Integer overflow
  In computer programming, an integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation attempts to create a numeric value that is too large to be represented within the available storage space. For instance, adding 1 to the largest value that can be represented constitutes an integer overflow...
  
  
• Arithmetic underflow
  Arithmetic underflow
  The term arithmetic underflow is a condition in a computer program that can occur when the true result of afloating point operation is smaller in magnitude...