How to handle arbitrarily large integers

Question

I\'m working on a programming language, and today I got the point where I could compile the factorial function(recursive), however due to the maximum size of an integer the

Answer 1

Other posters have given links to libraries that will do this for you, but it seem like you're trying to build this into your language. My first thought is: are you sure you need to do that? Most languages would use an add-on library as others have suggested.

Assuming you're writing a compiler and you do need this feature, you could implement integer arithmetic functions for arbitrarily large values in assembly.

For example, a simple (but non-optimal) implementation would represent the numbers as Binary Coded Decimal. The arithmetic functions could use the same algorithms as you'd use if you were doing the math with pencil and paper.

Also, consider using a specialized data type for these large integers. That way "normal" integers can use the standard 32 bit arithmetic.