A nibble or a bite? (Week 3)

 

Let’s talk about RAM…. No, not the animal; Random Access Memory! Before I started college, I always thought that RAM was the main storage or mass storage, in regard to computer functions. Looking back on that, it was pretty silly.  RAM can be thought of as a type of storage, but not the type of storage a person typically thinks of when storing data you want to save for later.

RAM is volatile storage, meaning that it needs a power source in order to maintain the information you are trying to access.  When the power source is taken away the information vanishes; think if it as short-term memory. In short, random-access memory only stores your data that you are currently using and does not store information long term. If you are looking to store something long term, that information goes to your SSD.

It only took me going to college to learn this information, rightfully so, I guess… especially since I want to major in IT

I think my favorite part of learning about the inter workings of a computer is that everything is communicated in binary. As I am typing this, it’s being inputted as 0’s and 1’s and the output is what you are currently reading! Cool, right?! Or at least I think it is.

Most of us know that a 0 or 1 is considered a bit, and a string of 8 bits is a byte; not to be mistaken for a bite of a delicious cheeseburger. But did you know that 4 bits is a nibble?

An easy way to remember this, is a nibble is smaller then a bite!


-K


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