wsiebeck@rmi.UUCP (12/14/86)
/***** rmi:comp.arch / bnr-vpa!pdbain / 1:59 pm Dec 5, 1986*/ Contrary to popular belief, a byte is not necessarily 8 bits - it just frequently happens to be that size. First some history. The infamous IBM 7030 (late 1950's, early 60's), also known as "Stretch", was IBM's first attempt at a supercomputer. Among other spiffy features, it allowed the programmer to specify the size of the operands, so if he wanted to do 23 bit arithmetic, he set the "byte size" field of the instruction to 23. The designers coined the term "byte" to mean "a bunch of bits operated on by an instruction". The 360 changed the meaning to 8 bits. Machines with 36 bits, such as the PDP-10, Honeywell mainframes, and Univac (sorry, Sperry. uh, what are they called today?) have either 6 or 9 bit bytes, and the BBN C-70 has a ten bit byte. Further, the information coding people talk about "bytes" to mean "a few bits", and talk quite freely about byte sizes. Finally, the IEEE dictionary defines a byte asa small number of bits which can be operated on by a machine. -peter /* ---------- */
wsiebeck@rmi.UUCP (12/14/86)
>/***** rmi:comp.arch / bnr-vpa!pdbain / 1:59 pm Dec 5, 1986*/ >Contrary to popular belief, a byte is not necessarily 8 bits - >it just frequently happens to be that size. A very easy definition of a byte is as follows: A byte is the smallest addressable unit of memory in a given machine. This should do it ?? =============================================================== Cabbage: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and as wise as a man's head. (A. Bierce) ===============================================================
kstevens@vino.dec.com.UUCP (12/16/86)
---------------------Reply to mail dated 14-DEC-1986 09:57--------------------- >The 360 changed the meaning to 8 bits. Machines with 36 bits, such as >the PDP-10, Honeywell mainframes, and Univac (sorry, Sperry. uh, >what are they called today?) have either 6 or 9 bit bytes, and the >BBN C-70 has a ten bit byte. Further, the information coding people Just to correct a mis-conception.... On the DEC-10, a byte can be anything the programmer wants to call it with the most common being 6, 7, or 9. My mailbox will always accept letters... (DEC E-NET) LATOUR::KSTEVENS (UUCP) {decvax,ucbvax,allegra}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-latour!kstevens (ARPA) kstevens%latour.DEC@decwrl.ARPA The opinions expressed here are definitely my own and not necessarily those of Digital Equipment Corporation.
srm@iris.berkeley.edu (Richard Mateosian) (12/16/86)
> A byte is the smallest addressable unit of memory in a given machine.
I know of one machine on which bits are addressable, but which usefully
maintains the concept of an 8-bit byte as another addressable entity.
Richard Mateosian ...ucbvax!ucbiris!srm 2919 Forest Avenue
415/540-7745 srm@iris.Berkeley.EDU Berkeley, CA 94705 gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu (06/02/90)
Ok Ok Ok enough already. Thanks for the information but please stop sending me more bits of history about Adam Smith's life and times. Some of the best information was provided by Donald Wells and Jim West: Adam Smith was a Scotsman who wrote "The Wealth of Nations" around 1775, the original rationale for market economics, for capitalism. In the book he referred to the invisible hand" of the free market automatically leading independent entrepreneurs to make rational decisions for the good of both themselves and of society at large. This contradicted the current economic philosophy, Mercantilism, (accepted by most European rulers) which said government should control things (to keep wealth in the country --France's Kings went for this big time). (Note: There is also a current day economist called Adam Smith. He puts out a news letter called "Adam Smiths Money World". He also does shows on PBS. I once got confused by this). Actually, I had heard of the book "The Wealth of Nations", but didn't know anything of the author. On the other hand, I had heard a lot about "Adam Smith's Money World", and wondered what on earth he had to do with the popularity of Intel's microprocessors.