Formal Definition
The formal definition of an arithmetic shift, from Federal Standard 1037C is that it is:
- A shift, applied to the representation of a number in a fixed radix numeration system and in a fixed-point representation system, and in which only the characters representing the fixed-point part of the number are moved. An arithmetic shift is usually equivalent to multiplying the number by a positive or a negative integral power of the radix, except for the effect of any rounding; compare the logical shift with the arithmetic shift, especially in the case of floating-point representation.
An important word in the FS 1073C definition is "usually".
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