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A byte is not always 8 bits on old machines, though it is standardised as 8 bits nowadays. This is why network RFCs talk of "octets", to avoid the ambiguity.
by jlokier 5mo ago
A byte is not always 8 bits on old machines, though it is standardised as 8 bits nowadays.
This is why network RFCs talk of "octets", to avoid the ambiguity. Octets are always 8 bits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octet_(computing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octet_(computing)
- duped 5mo agoThe definition of a byte today is different than the definition of byte when those machines were manufactured. Just like how 'foot' is now standardized(*) (* technically, a 'foot' is not a standard unit of measure but that's due to the long history of 'foot' not being standardized until relatively recently)
- fc417fc802 5mo agoNo. 8 bit bytes are the de facto standard but that is in no way official nor the definition of the word. You can find modern niche projects with non-8-bit bytes (and by extension non-32 or 64 bit words).
- djmips 5mo agoI didn't realize that there was a 16 bit name called a 'chomp' haha. But more formally hextet.