created: 06/25/96; 2nd edition: 05/13/01; little bitty changes: 09/01/01
Computers represent data and instructions with patterns of bits. You must become familiar with bit patterns! This chapter will help you. It discusses the fundamentals of bit patterns.
Chapter Topics:
- Patterns of bits.
- The number of patterns that can be formed for N bits.
- How to systematically list all the patterns for N bits.
- Multiplying powers of two.
- Bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes.
- Names for four-bit patterns.
- Hexadecimal names for bit patterns.
- Octal names for bit patterns.
In most computer documentation, 8 contiguous bits are called a byte. A bit holds a zero or a one, possibly representing the on/off condition of a switch.