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Java Java Data Structures - Retired Getting There The Beginning Bits

Posted by Adam Brown
Adam Brown
12,453 Points

Unit names?

Craig Dennis says that 1024 bytes is a kilobyte... 1024 kilobytes is a megabyte, etc.

Shouldn't it be 1000 bytes is a kilobyte? I thought 1024 was a kibibyte.

TL;DR: Isn't Craig incorrectly using the decimal nomenclature to refer to binary units?

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
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STAFF
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Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

No, not really. That's what they were called in IT up until 1998 when the IEC stepped in and gave them new names. He's just using the older terminology (which is still prevalent). Here's some documentation from the IEC about kibibyte vs kilobyte etc.

http://www.iec.ch/si/binary.htm

edited for additional note

The original kilo prefixes were used as an approximation.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

Adam Brown
Adam Brown
12,453 Points

Talk about building upon a shoddy premise. You'd think computer scientists would want to avoid ambiguity. Thanks for the info, Jennifer!