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External Websites
- Wolfram MathWorld - Binary
- Carnegie Mellon University - School of Computer Science - Bits, Bytes and Data Types
- ACM Digital Library - Bit Manipulation Accelerator for Communication Systems Digital Signal Processor (PDF)
- Stanford University - Bits, Bytes, and Binary
- University of Babylon - Binary Arithmetic (PDF)
- Carnegie Mellon University - Introduction to Binary (PDF)
- The University of New Mexico - Computer Concepts and Terminology - Binary Representation
- The University of Hawaiʻi Pressbooks - Binary Numbers
bit
communications
Also known as:binary digit
Written and fact-checked by
bit, incommunication andinformation theory, a unit of information equivalent to the result of a choice between only two possiblealternatives, as between 1 and 0 in thebinary number system generally used indigital computers. The term is shortened from the words “binary digit.” It is also applied to a unit ofcomputer memory corresponding to the ability to store the result of a choice between two alternatives, in which 1 is a high voltage and 0 is a low voltage.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated byErik Gregersen.