Meaning

(computing) A short sequence of bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word..

Definitions by Sense

1. (computing) A short sequence of bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word.
2. (computing, most commonly) A unit of computing storage equal to eight bits, which can represent any of 256 distinct values.

Example Sentences

The word “hello” fits into five bytes of ASCII code.

If you look at the photograph of the interior of the Spectrum[…], you will see that there is one ROM chip, and 16 smaller RAM chips. These chips give the Spectrum its memory. The memory consists of 65536 storage units that each contain one byte (a number from 0 to 255).

With a varchar, the storage is always the actual number of characters you have stored plus 2 bytes. So a varchar(20) with a 5-character word will take up 7 bytes, with the extra 2 bytes holding a size reference for SQL Server.

Word Forms

• bytes

Synonyms for byte

Related Words

When Should You Use Byte?

Use byte when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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