The size of a word is usually the same as the width of the computer's data
bus so it is possible to read or write a word in a single operation. An
instruction is usually one or more words long and a word can be used to hold
a whole number of characters. These days, this nearly always means a whole
number of bytes (eight bits), most often 32 or 64 bits.
Unix
An interactive time-sharing operating system invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the Multics project, originally so he could play games on his scavenged PDP-7. Dennis Ritchie, the inventor of C, is considered a co-author of the system.
Maintained by
Efi Fogel.
Last modified: October 25 2003.