Ruby uses Fixnum class for representing small numbers and Bignum class for big numbers. 1# Before Ruby 2.4 2 31.class #=> Fixnum 4(2 ** 62).class #=> BignumCopy In general routine work we don't have to worry about whether the number we are dealing with is Bignum or Fixnum. It's just an implementation detail. Interestingly, Ruby also has Integer class which is superclass for Fixnum and Bignum. Star