What's the difference between a word and byte?

Question

I've done some research. A byte is 8 bits and a word is the smallest unit that can be addressed on memory. The exact length of a word varies. What I don't understand is what's the point of having a byte? Why not say 8 bits?

I asked a prof this question and he said most machines these days are byte-addressable, but what would that make a word?

Answer 1

If a machine is byte-addressable and a word is the smallest unit that can be addressed on memory then I guess a word would be a byte!

Answer 2

In fact, in common usage, word has become synonymous with 16 bits, much like byte has with 8 bits. Can get a little confusing since the "word size" on a 32-bit CPU is 32-bits, but when talking about a word of data, one would mean 16-bits. Microcontrollers with a 32-bit word size have taken to calling their instructions "longs" (supposedly to try and avoid the word/doubleword confusion).

Answer 3

Also good way to think about it. Of course It depends on the computer architecture.

bit = …1 bit…
nybble = 4 bits = 1/2 byte
byte = 8 bits = 2 nybbles
WORD = 2 bytes = 4 nybbles = 16 bits
DWORD = 2 WORDs = 4 bytes = 8 nybbles = 32 bits
QWORD = 2 DWORDs = 4 WORDs = ... = 64 bits

Answer 4

BYTE

I am trying to answer this question from C++ perspective.

The C++ standard defines ‘byte’ as “Addressable unit of data large enough to hold any member of the basic character set of the execution environment.”

What this means is that the byte consists of at least enough adjacent bits to accommodate the basic character set for the implementation. That is, the number of possible values must equal or exceed the number of distinct characters. In the United States, the basic character sets are usually the ASCII and EBCDIC sets, each of which can be accommodated by 8 bits. Hence it is guaranteed that a byte will have at least 8 bits.

In other words, a byte is the amount of memory required to store a single character.

If you want to verify ‘number of bits’ in your C++ implementation, check the file ‘limits.h’. It should have an entry like below.

#define CHAR_BIT      8         /* number of bits in a char */

WORD

A Word is defined as specific number of bits which can be processed together (i.e. in one attempt) by the machine/system. Alternatively, we can say that Word defines the amount of data that can be transferred between CPU and RAM in a single operation.

The hardware registers in a computer machine are word sized. The Word size also defines the largest possible memory address (each memory address points to a byte sized memory).

Note – In C++ programs, the memory addresses points to a byte of memory and not to a word.

Answer 5

In this context, a word is the unit that a machine uses when working with memory. For example, on a 32 bit machine, the word is 32 bits long and on a 64 bit is 64 bits long. The word size determines the address space.

In programming (C/C++), the word is typically represented by the int_ptr type, which has the same length as a pointer, this way abstracting these details.

Some APIs might confuse you though, such as Win32 API, because it has types such as WORD (16 bits) and DWORD (32 bits). The reason is that the API was initially targeting 16 bit machines, then was ported to 32 bit machines, then to 64 bit machines. To store a pointer, you can use INT_PTR. More details here and here.

Answer 6

What I don't understand is what's the point of having a byte? Why not say 8 bits?

Apart from the technical point that a byte isn't necessarily 8 bits, the reasons for having a term is simple human nature:

• economy of effort (aka laziness) - it is easier to say "byte" rather than "eight bits"

• tribalism - groups of people like to use jargon / a private language to set them apart from others.

Just go with the flow. You are not going to change 50+ years of accumulated IT terminology and cultural baggage by complaining about it.

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FWIW - the correct term to use when you mean "8 bits independent of the hardware architecture" is "octet".