Re: The integral type 'byte' (was Re: Suggested method for returning a string from a C program?)

On 26/03/2025 14:12, bart wrote:

On 26/03/2025 11:47, David Brown wrote:

On 26/03/2025 12:02, Richard Harnden wrote:

On 26/03/2025 10:10, David Brown wrote:

But the fact that "octet" was a standardised term for 8 bits prior to the standardisation of the term "byte", does not change the fact that the term "byte" was standardised as 8 bits - in common computing usage by at least 40 years ago (though I still think 50 years ago is reasonable), and in official international standards by at least 30 years ago.

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I was taught - probably wrongly - that byte was a contraction of 'binary-eight'.
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As far as I know, it was just a re-spelling (to avoid mixups with "bit") of the word "bite" that was used to indicate a small chunk of something.   Certainly the word was used before its size was fixed at 8 bits.
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The word "bit", on the other hand, is often said to come from "binary digit" or "binary information digit".  Personally, I think it is a lot simpler - it's the smallest usable bit of information you can have. Saying it is a "binary digit" just makes it clearer how big a bit you have.
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 So where did a 'bit' being 1/8th of a dollar come from? (As in, two bits being 25 cents.) Maybe a coincidence?

I would guess it came from silver dollars being cut into bits for "small change".  With silver coins, people often used "hack-silver" - coins or other silver items chopped up.  Cutting a coin into eight bits is probably as small as you can get with a reasonable accuracy, and with reasonable confidence that the parts are actually bits of a dollar coin.
The practice probably pre-dates the American dollar (certainly hack-silver is as old as silver coins), and is probably the origin of "pieces of eight".