Concept

Is a bit abstract or concrete, and discrete or continuous?

Stephen Davies, Ph.D. Version 2.2.2 Through Discrete Mathematics A Cool Brisk Walk / Chapter 1

"A bit in a computer’s memory. Would you call it abstract, or concrete? Discrete, or continuous? Clearly it’s discrete. Abstract vs. concrete, though, is a little tricky. If we’re talking about the actual transistor and capacitor that’s physically present in the hardware, holding a tiny charge in some little chip, then it’s concrete. But if we’re talking about the value “1” that is conceptually part of the computer’s currently executing state, then it’s really abstract just like 27 was. In this book, we’ll always be talking about bits in this second, abstract sense."

Related Ideas

Is a bit abstract or concrete, and discrete or continuous? | Stephen Davies, Ph.D. Version 2.2.2 Through Discrete Mathematics A Cool Brisk Walk | Bifalgorithm | Bifalgorithm