The Bit, a contraction of "binary digit," is the most fundamental and smallest unit of information in computing and digital communications. A bit can have only one of two possible values, typically represented as 0 or 1. These two states can also be interpreted as off/on, false/true, or low/high voltage in an electronic circuit. All digital data, no matter how complex, is ultimately composed of bits. A single bit by itself carries very little information, so bits are grouped together into larger units to represent more complex data.
For example, a sequence of 8 bits forms a byte, which is a common unit for representing a single character (like 'A' or '?') via an encoding scheme such as ASCII. By grouping bits into longer sequences, we can represent numbers, text, images, sound, and program instructions. For instance, a 16-bit integer uses a sequence of 16 bits to represent 65,536 different numerical values. In communication, the speed is measured in bits per second (bps), indicating how many of these fundamental units can be transmitted in a given time.
In the context of programmable power supplies, the resolution of control and measurement is determined by the number of bits in its internal converters (e.g., a 16-bit DAC), defining how many discrete steps the output can be set to. The bit is the basic building block upon which the entire digital world is constructed.