17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
On Wed, 10 Apr 1996, jim bell wrote:
Be careful writing code - sometimes a byte is -128 to 127 instead of 0 to 255. Also, there are machines (mostly old kinky ones) that use bytes of sizes other than 8 bits.
No, Bill, a "byte" has ALWAYS been 8-bits.
Not that it really matters, but you're wrong; if you're talking about an asynchronous data stream, a byte is however many bits it takes to express one character. If you're using ASCII, it's 8; if you're using Baudot, it's 5. If you're talking about data in computers, then I think you're right, a byte is always 8 bits. -rich