What error occurs when a number exceeds the storage capacity?

• A. Overflow
• B. Underflow
• C. Syntax
• D. Debugging

Answer: (A)

The situation tested is what happens when a number can’t be stored in the fixed number of bits available. When a value exceeds the maximum the storage type can hold, it undergoes overflow. In most systems, integers have a limited range, so extra value wraps around (modulo the storage size) and you end up with a misleading result, like a very small or negative number. Some languages or environments may raise an error or handle it differently, but the key idea is that the value cannot be represented with the given storage, causing overflow. For contrast, underflow describes when a magnitude is too small to represent (often near zero in floating-point), which is a different issue from simply exceeding the storage capacity. Syntax and debugging aren’t about the storage limit itself.