Cheat Sheet
A. Bits, Bytes, and Binary Language
Byte: A byte is a term used to represent 8 bits of data. One byte can hold about one letter of the alphabet, one number, or one special character.
Bit: A bit is short for binary digit. Each bit represents a 0 or a 1.
Binary Language: In order to process data, computers use binary language, which consists of just two digits: 0 and 1. Everything a computer does is broken down into a series of 0s and 1s. Each 0 and 1 is a binary digit, or bit for short. In computers, each letter of the alphabet, each number, and each special character (such as the @ sign) consists of a unique combination of eight bits, or a string of eight 0s and 1s. B. Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, and Beyond
Kilobyte (KB): Approximately 1,000 bytes.
Megabyte (MB): About 1 million bytes.
Gigabyte (GB): About 1 billion bytes.
Terabyte (TB): About 1 trillion bytes
Petabyte (PB): About 1,000 terabytes
C. Computer Processing
Processor Speed: Processor speed is measured in units of hertz (Hz). Hertz means “machine cycles per second.” A machine cycle is the process of the CPU getting the data or information from RAM and decoding the instructions into something the computer can understand.
Data: The representation of a fact, a figure, or an idea. Data can be a number, a word, a picture, or even a recording of sound.
Information: Data that has been organized or presented in a meaningful fashion.