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Bit numbering

convention to identify bit positions within a byte, word, or bit string

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ3885225
Source-derived summary

In computing, bit numbering is the convention used to identify the bit positions in a binary number. The bits can be those in a memory byte or word, or those of an internal CPU register or data bus.

Bit significance and indexing

In computing, the least significant bit (LSb) is the bit position in a binary integer representing the lowest-order place of the integer. Similarly, the most significant bit (MSb) represents the highest-order place of the binary integer. The LSb is sometimes referred to as the low-order bit. Due to the convention in positional notation of writing less significant digits further to the right, the LSb also might be referred to as the right-most bit. The MSb is similarly referred to as the high-order bit or left-most bit. In both cases, the LSb and MSb correlate directly to the least significant digit and most significant digit of a decimal integer.

Bit indexing correlates to the positional notation of the value in base 2. For this reason, bit index is not affected by how the value is stored on the device, such as the value's byte order.

Editorial summary

“Bit numbering” enters the record as convention to identify bit positions within a byte, word, or bit string. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what numbering, convention and identify can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 186-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around numbering, convention and identify.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Bit numbering” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, numbering, convention and identify provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3885225. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Bit numbering primary sources, Bit numbering archive and numbering research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Bit numbering” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.