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

(www.open-std.org)
211 points Twirrim | 3 comments | 17 Oct 24 22:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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kreco ◴[17 Oct 24 23:44 UTC] No.41874966[source]▶
I'm totally fine with enforcing that int8_t == char == 8-bits, however I'm not sure about spreading the misconception that a byte is 8-bits. A byte with 8-bits is called an octet.

At the same time, a `byte` is already an "alias" for `char` since C++17 anyway[1].

[1] https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/types/byte

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1. spc476 ◴[18 Oct 24 03:32 UTC] No.41876119[source]▶
My first experience with computers was 45 years ago, and a "byte" back then was defined as an 8-bit quantity. And in the intervening 45 years, I've never come across a different meaning for "byte". I'll ask for a citation for a definition of "byte" that isn't 8-bits.
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2. larsbrinkhoff ◴[18 Oct 24 06:45 UTC] No.41876924[source]▶
1979 is quite recent as computer history goes, and many conventions had settled by then. The Wikipedia article discusses the etymology of "byte" and how the definition evolved from loosely "a group of bits less than a word" to "precisely 8 bits". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte
3. kreco ◴[18 Oct 24 08:27 UTC] No.41877397[source]▶
That's interesting because maybe a byte will not be 8-bit in 45 years from now on.

I'm mostly discussing from the sake of it because I don't really mind as a C/C++ user. We could just use "octet" and call it a day, but now there is an ambiguity with the past definition and potential in the future definition (in which case I hope the term "byte" will just disappear).