Octet, not byte: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "In general, we try to avoid using the term byte, because it is sometimes ambiguous, much like the term 'word' is. It is burden enough that the size of a word is machine-dependent, and since the size of a byte is too, let us dispense with it in favour of a term that is not: '''octet'''. Bytes are ''almost'' always 8 bits. Octets are ''always'' 8 bits. Sometimes hardware literature will take the liberty of using the term ''byte'' in their own given context. Let us not wr...") |
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Sometimes hardware literature will take the liberty of using the term ''byte'' in their own given context. Let us not write hardware literature in such a way, and let us not give existing hardware literature such an excess deference when it does so. | Sometimes hardware literature will take the liberty of using the term ''byte'' in their own given context. Let us not write hardware literature in such a way, and let us not give existing hardware literature such an excess deference when it does so. | ||
[[Category:Scathing screeds]][[Category:Rules of life]] | [[Category:Scathing screeds]][[Category:Rules of life]][[Category:Computing terminology]] | ||
Revision as of 03:13, 25 April 2023
In general, we try to avoid using the term byte, because it is sometimes ambiguous, much like the term 'word' is. It is burden enough that the size of a word is machine-dependent, and since the size of a byte is too, let us dispense with it in favour of a term that is not: octet.
Bytes are almost always 8 bits. Octets are always 8 bits.
Sometimes hardware literature will take the liberty of using the term byte in their own given context. Let us not write hardware literature in such a way, and let us not give existing hardware literature such an excess deference when it does so.
