As others have said: The way CPUs fetch and access memory is in larger word sizes. Even 1 8-bit byte can be inefficient depending on how that byte aligns in the

As others have said: The way CPUs fetch and access memory is in larger word sizes. Even 1 8-bit byte can be inefficient depending on how that byte aligns in the larger structure and which ISA you're talking about. Memory is cheap, so. shrug In embedded this can be a very different story though. There we are often working with tiny memories and lower clock speeds and the concern is packing everything in tighter.