You know, I was going to stay out of this one ...
It is true that one (1) bit is the smallest
discreet unit of data.
Also that 4 bits are a Nibble,
also that 8 bits are a Byte.
These are truths on every processor I've worked
on. (Some bus circuitry requires a ninth parity
bit, but that's not part of the data.)
When we get to the WORD, things begin to get
a little fuzzy. On some processors, a BYTE and
a WORD are the same.
On contemporary Intel processors, a WORD is 2
BYTES. On higher end CPUs a WORD can be 32 or
even 64 bits. It depends on the CPUs "natural"
data unit size, based on its register width.
Having said all that, I still teach my students
that:
1 = BIT
4 = NIBBLE
8 = BYTE
16 = WORD
32 = DOUBLE WORD
64 = QUAD WORD
(but I always add the "CPU-dependent" disclaimer).
With a little more personal restraint I might have
stayed out of this one, but THE VOICES MADE ME!
Trust The Source,
Garry
---------------------
>
> Really?!? What are Word and DWord ?
>
> I know that:
> 4 bits are called NIBBLE
> 8 bits are called BYTE
> 16 " " " WORD
> 32 " " " DOUBLE WORD
>
> 1 bit is the unit of information and not byte.
>
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