Actually the strict definition is the number of bits the CPU arch supports as address lines. So today it's common to see 32 or 64 bit as word length (although you can argue for things like 36 bit with PAE).
Software development has borrowed this term, but even there the usage_SHOULD_ be determined by the underlying hardware... and "bad things" have happened when assuming what the underlying hardware will always be... -sc From: Jeff Bunting [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 5:12 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Re[2]: AV revisited Actually, I think it is, as Steven Caesare suggested, architecture dependent. Common usage nowadays has been 16 bit words. Jeff On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 3:58 PM, Webster <[email protected]> wrote: > -----Original Message----- > From: Erik Goldoff [mailto:[email protected]] > Subject: RE: Re[2]: AV revisited > > No way ... A word is 8 bits, or two 4 bit nybbles ... So the 9th bit > would > be the first bit of the second word ! Nope, a Word is 16 bits and a Double Word is 32 bits. http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/doublew.htm Single unit of data expressing two adjacent words. A double word is 32-bits where a word is 16-bits. Back in my mainframe days, I used to be able to do double word hex math in my head. Now I am lucky if I can calculate the change from a fast food restaurant. Webster ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
