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Why is a byte said to be a string of 8 bits?
A byte is a string of 8 bits. The bit string is partitioned into groups of 4 bits each. Each group is then treated as a 4-bit, base-2 number (even if the bit string itself is not representing a number). For example, the bit string 1101 would be treated as the number 13, since .
Why is byte used?
A byte is the unit most computers use to represent a character such as a letter, number or typographic symbol. Each byte can hold a string of bits that need to be used in a larger unit for application purposes. As an example, a stream of bits can constitute a visual image for a program that displays images.
What was the first computer with an 8-bit character?
The first computer with an “8 bit character” was the IBM 7030. The customer that insisted was the CIA. Prior to the IBM 7030, all characters were 6 bits. The 7030 had a 64 bit words (plus 8 bits of Error Correction Codes).
What is the size of a byte in computer?
What a byte is defined to be is the minimum storage unit for the hardware. In the 1950s, IBM determined that the most often needed size was 8 bits, which is a power of 2, allows for 2^8 number of values to be stored, and that was enough for handling printers, card readers, tape drives…
Why are 8-bit bytes so popular?
The extremely popular IBM System/360 mainframe used an 8-bit byte, which helped increase the popularity of 8 bits. Around the same time, AT started introducing 8-bit μ − law encoding for transmitting sound digitally over its lines, which also made 8-bits a convenient data transfer size for going over AT lines as well.
How many bits are in a byte in C++?
TODAY, in the world of C++ on x86 processors, it is pretty safe to rely on one byte being 8 bits. Processors where the word size is not a power of 2 (8, 16, 32, 64) are very uncommon.