On Mon, 2 Mar 1998 03:07:53 -0800 Andrew Warren writes: >William Chops Westfield wrote: > >> AFAIK, a "byte" did not have any inherent size prior to >> microcomputers and microprocessors (at which point it became 8 bits, >> since that was the native addressable size.) CDC bytes were 6 bits, >> IBM varied, and the DEC PDP10 had special "byte pointer" instuctions >> that could handle any byte size from 1 to 36 bits within its 36-bit >> words (word addressable machine.) > >Bill: > >That's true, more or less... The word "byte" was originally defined >as the amount used to represent one character; when the word was >first coined, a "byte" was a six-bit number. > >However... The 8-bit definition of "byte" predates microcomputers and >microprocessors by over a decade; the IBM System/360, designed in the >'50s, started to standardize a "byte" as eight bits. Ever since >then, most people have used the word "byte" specifically to mean an >eight-bit quantity, and referred to the other sizes -- imprecisely -- >as "words". > >-Andy > >=== Andrew Warren - fastfwd@ix.netcom.com >=== Fast Forward Engineering - Vista, California >=== http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/2499 > Andy, You are right. Byte started as BYTE after IBM/360 came into life. I want to go back to "bit". As far as I had been learnt it comes from English word bit what means smallest piece/amount of information which can not by divided or splitted any more. The origin of nibble is quite obscure. I think this is a pure modern programmer's jargon rarely being met in literature. Regards Blad Cap _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]