The most important data structure used by the computer is the byte. A byte consists of eight bits and is the smallest addressable datum (data item) in the microprocessor.

The bits in a byte are numbered from bit zero (0) through seven (7). The bit positions are shown with their weighted values in the following table:

 

Bit number:	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0
Power of 2:	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	20
Decimal Value:	128	64	32	16	8	4	2	1