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C++ proposal: There are exactly 8 bits in a byte

(www.open-std.org)
182 points Twirrim | 3 comments | 17 Oct 24 22:21 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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cyberax ◴[17 Oct 24 23:27 UTC] No.41874839[source]▶
But think of ternary computers!
replies(1): >>41874847 #
dathinab ◴[17 Oct 24 23:28 UTC] No.41874847[source]▶
Doesn't matter ternary computers just have ternary bits, 8 of them ;)
replies(2): >>41874880 #>>41874912 #
1. AStonesThrow ◴[17 Oct 24 23:32 UTC] No.41874880[source]▶
Supposedly, "bit" is short for "binary digit", so we'd need a separate term for "ternary digit", but I don't wanna go there.
replies(2): >>41875125 #>>41875189 #
2. bryanlarsen ◴[18 Oct 24 00:10 UTC] No.41875125[source]▶
The standard term is "trit" because they didn't want to go there.
3. epcoa ◴[18 Oct 24 00:22 UTC] No.41875189[source]▶
The prefix is tri-, not ti- so I don’t think there was any concern of going anywhere.

It’s tricycle and tripod, not ticycle.