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The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. [1] The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as either " 1" or "0 ", but other representations such as true/false, yes/no, on/off, or +/− are ...
Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a character of text in the computer, which depended on computer hardware architecture, but today it almost always means eight bits – that is, an octet. An 8-bit byte can represent 256 (2 8) distinct values, such as non-negative integers from 0 to 255, or signed integers from −128 to ...
A bitstream (or bit stream), also known as binary sequence, is a sequence of bits. A bytestream is a sequence of bytes . Typically, each byte is an 8-bit quantity , and so the term octet stream is sometimes used interchangeably.
Binary-coded decimal (BCD) is a binary encoded representation of integer values that uses a 4-bit nibble to encode decimal digits. Four binary bits can encode up to 16 distinct values; but, in BCD-encoded numbers, only ten values in each nibble are legal, and encode the decimal digits zero, through nine.
Also simply application or app. Computer software designed to perform a group of coordinated functions, tasks, or activities for the benefit of the user. Common examples of applications include word processors, spreadsheets, accounting applications, web browsers, media players, aeronautical flight simulators, console games, and photo editors. This contrasts with system software, which is ...
The bit length of each word defines, for one thing, how many memory locations can be independently addressed by the processor. In cryptography , the key size of an algorithm is the bit length of the keys used by that algorithm, and it is an important factor of an algorithm's strength.
Similarly, the most significant bit (MSb) represents the highest-order place of the binary integer. The LSb is sometimes referred to as the low-order bit or right-most bit, due to the convention in positional notation of writing less significant digits further to the right. The MSb is similarly referred to as the high-order bit or left-most bit.
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. [1] [2] [3] Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to applied disciplines (including the design and implementation of hardware and software).