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

(www.open-std.org)
288 points Twirrim | 1 comments | 17 Oct 24 22:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.266s | 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

replies(4): >>41874974 #>>41876119 #>>41876985 #>>41883436 #
1. mort96 ◴[18 Oct 24 06:58 UTC] No.41876985[source]▶
Nah, a byte is 8 bits.

This is a normative statement, not a descriptive statement.