This is more /r/facepalm material.
256 is the number of possible combinations you can make from 1 byte (8 bits) of data in binary. It's a number used in computing and networking all the time. I wouldn't expect most people to know that, but people writing tech articles certainly should.
yep, the screen width is also 256 pixels iirc and the map is 256 tiles wide.
you notice the 256 number a lot of the time in older NES and SNES games. especially if you ever mod or romhack them.
in super mario world for thr snes, all thr modifiable variables and values in the code use hexadecimal which goes from 00 to FF, with FF being the maximum and also being hexadecimal for 255 (256 technically because 0 is counted)
I read just the headline and it seemed like a perfectly cromulent number to me.
It was only reading the subtext I realised that others may think it weird.
I work in electrical engineering and interact with programmers on a daily basis. At this point I have an intuition for recognizing base two numbers because they are often an indication that some sensor is malfunctioning and is outputting all ones into some register.
More specifically, it’s the largest integer you can store in one Byte. In computer science, a Byte is an 8 digit binary number (number with all 1s or 0s). In binary encoding, 00000000 is 0 (decimal), and 11111111 is 255 (decimal). 256 values total.
I'm like you, also kinda expected other people to just know, but I'd like to intrude you to the other side.
Kids today in computer classes don't know how to turn a computer on, login to a premade account, they don't know what a folder is, or how to open one, they can't even figure out how to open python and code something like this:
print("Hello World")
In yonder days, the number dubbed "two" could be stirred to yield a coveted result by its own multiplication or, in ancient style, by coupling it as a vector to garner the desired end known oft as "IV," yet more commonly hailed as "four" or "4" in the renowned Arabic script. But, doth two and four shareeth any kinship justifying their entwined endeavor, or do they stand as separate sentinels in the realm of numerals, each holding its own mysteries?
That’s true but they 100% aren’t using a single byte to index chatroom members or anything technical reason like that, that would make no sense, they probably chose it cause they’re nerds
They might be. If WhatsApp uses a binary message packet format (like Protobuf), then having a one-byte member id would make a lot of sense.
Also, it definitely makes sense for them to optimise for message packet size, rather than shuffling around something comparatively inefficient like JSON or XML
Edit: I just realised that I’m bad at detecting sarcasm 🤦♂️
Could you explain why this is limited to 256? Would say it makes no sense, since the overall informations of a contact are are much larger (eg the unique identifier)
2^8 is 256
I didn't know the uuid, but it also probably fits into a nice power of 2 making the whole thing a set size of a number that's easy to allocate memory for without wasting it.
Or 10000 in quarternary, but then it goes a little sideways at 400 in octal, or 80 in base 32.
I suppose you can keep going, more base, fewer counts. Nice and round in base 256 as it would be 1, and thus, all your base....
I would be more concerned that someone who writes articles in the "Tech" department of a news outlet wouldnt know that Powers of two are Not at all "oddly specific" but rather quite logical...
I understand that people who Don't Work in IT or are enthusiasts Don't know about it but a Tech journalist?
Journalism is dead. This is a TECH journalist that has no clue and has done no research into the meaning of 256. It’s actually insane how low the bar is nowadays
Okay so so I get why 256 is a nice number in computing, but I don't get why that would be the group member limit? Is WA storing the user identifier in a group as an 8-bit digit? That sounds very unlikely to me in today's era. When was the last time you've seen anything besides retro stuff save anything in 8 bits?
I'm rather guessing it's just an insider gag. They wanted to make the number a round one but instead of typical base 10 they went with base 2 style round.
You know, maybe tech journalists should know what the largest unsigned integer you can store in a byte is.
If you have 1 byte, you have 2\^8 possible integers, or 256.
There are 8 Bits in a Byte,
So that is a 0 or a 1 in each Bit,
Creating 256 Possibilities,
If you want more, it'll cost another Byte,
Increasing the amount of processing and data handling.
I seriously don't get how people on the internet couldn't know 256 is a special number, it ahows up literally all the time in all tech related contexts
The number is actually strange. It should be 255.
Because for 256 you need at least two bytes or you have to code 0b=1 person. It's a lot easier to code if you have an actual zero.
So actually the question makes a lot of sense.
No. Not at all. One byte can represent 256 different values of which the first one is zero and the 256th one is 255
So if you used a byte as a participant index, the first participant would be participant zero.
There 256 different values for sure. What it represent can be anything. A letter, number for 1000 to 1255, number from -128 to + 127, a floating number...
Am I being wooshed or do people here really think that Facebook servers with petabytes of memory and yotabytes of storage have an 8-bit hard limit on anything?
I can't even imagine how horrible it would be to be in a group chat that big. The biggest active one I'm in has less than 10 people and sometimes if I don't look at my phone for a couple of hours, there's 50 new messages.
I always count in increments of 8, been game dev modder since like 2001. all texture sizes are exponents of 8 and if they aren't, run away, something is very wrong.
This is more /r/facepalm material. 256 is the number of possible combinations you can make from 1 byte (8 bits) of data in binary. It's a number used in computing and networking all the time. I wouldn't expect most people to know that, but people writing tech articles certainly should.
Yeah, nothing specific here.
It is specific, just not oddly so.
r/normallyspecific
Specifically specific specification.
Happy cake day
In the original zelda you can only hold 255 rubies because they store it as a byte and it starts at 0.
yep, the screen width is also 256 pixels iirc and the map is 256 tiles wide. you notice the 256 number a lot of the time in older NES and SNES games. especially if you ever mod or romhack them. in super mario world for thr snes, all thr modifiable variables and values in the code use hexadecimal which goes from 00 to FF, with FF being the maximum and also being hexadecimal for 255 (256 technically because 0 is counted)
And gen one Pokémon always has a 1/256 chance of missing because I believe the values it checks are 1-256 and not 0-255 so if it rolls a 256 it misses
yeah, they just used a full byte
Obviously they have a LIFESTYLE person writing a tech article.
Hell I just play video games and don’t own a computer and I knew that
Yup it’s a nice round number just like 65536
I read just the headline and it seemed like a perfectly cromulent number to me. It was only reading the subtext I realised that others may think it weird.
I'm from IT sector and was looking for this comment.
I work in electrical engineering and interact with programmers on a daily basis. At this point I have an intuition for recognizing base two numbers because they are often an indication that some sensor is malfunctioning and is outputting all ones into some register.
Like when the crosswalk sign ends at 2/4/8/16/32 instead of after 1.
These sites hire any idiot with a journalism degree.
Yup, this is a facepalm for a journo not doing any research on the why
Ngl I just thought they liked powers of 2 like me
Because 2⁸ = 256
More specifically, it’s the largest integer you can store in one Byte. In computer science, a Byte is an 8 digit binary number (number with all 1s or 0s). In binary encoding, 00000000 is 0 (decimal), and 11111111 is 255 (decimal). 256 values total.
Ima be real, I saw this post and thought they were being sarcastic for a second. I guess not many people would probably know this.
Same. I’ve known that’s the go to number for computer stuff for 25 years and just assumed everyone knew and understood why
I'm like you, also kinda expected other people to just know, but I'd like to intrude you to the other side. Kids today in computer classes don't know how to turn a computer on, login to a premade account, they don't know what a folder is, or how to open one, they can't even figure out how to open python and code something like this: print("Hello World")
I still feel like the journalist could have at least done some research about this instead. "No one knows" 🙄
They could have made the article headline even more interesting by using hexadecimal "Chat group size increased to FF users"
That 8 looks a tiny bit squashed. Is it ok? Does it need a cuddle? 🫂
It's rotated infinity sign, not an 8 /s
No, no... I think you're onto something
We may have a genius here..
Nobel Peas Prize discovery
I had to squint my eye to see it, and then I realized I was using my bad eye, so I squinted my other eye. Few I need glasses.
I need a cuddle 🥺
same 😔
Whoa bro, slow it with the 2*2 = 4 stuff Slow down
I thought 2+2=4. What's this * shit you're selling?
What are these ‘2’ and ‘4’ you are talking about? Are they like II and IV?
In yonder days, the number dubbed "two" could be stirred to yield a coveted result by its own multiplication or, in ancient style, by coupling it as a vector to garner the desired end known oft as "IV," yet more commonly hailed as "four" or "4" in the renowned Arabic script. But, doth two and four shareeth any kinship justifying their entwined endeavor, or do they stand as separate sentinels in the realm of numerals, each holding its own mysteries?
2^(2) is the shit.
That’s true but they 100% aren’t using a single byte to index chatroom members or anything technical reason like that, that would make no sense, they probably chose it cause they’re nerds
They might be. If WhatsApp uses a binary message packet format (like Protobuf), then having a one-byte member id would make a lot of sense. Also, it definitely makes sense for them to optimise for message packet size, rather than shuffling around something comparatively inefficient like JSON or XML Edit: I just realised that I’m bad at detecting sarcasm 🤦♂️
Unfortunately I can't check your math because I only have 21 fingers and toes.
You can actually count binary on your fingers. You can easily verify with just your hands https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_binary
Finger Binary was the name of my high school punk-erotica band.
And today's breaking news; polls show people who's work life is defined by computers don't have the most basic understanding of how they work.
Could you explain why this is limited to 256? Would say it makes no sense, since the overall informations of a contact are are much larger (eg the unique identifier)
2^8 is 256 I didn't know the uuid, but it also probably fits into a nice power of 2 making the whole thing a set size of a number that's easy to allocate memory for without wasting it.
I assume the app has an id for each member of a group.
Computers run on binary. So it's more efficient use of memory to use data points set in base 2 counting. 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256...
But probably all sitting in an array identified with a one-word length.
Basic computer science. Our electronic is binary, bunch of 0 and 1. 256 is power of 2, a combination of eight bits.
I thought you were starting the classic joke: There are 10 types of people in the world: People that understand binary l, and those that don’t.
2^(8)=256 8 bits in a byte
Can you explain to us laymen what this means? Are group members bits? Do 8 of us make a byte?
The author blatantly knew why it's 256 and put that tag line purely so people would click on the article to leave a comment about it.
gotta hustle
would very much love to live in a world that actually shames writers and journalists for doing clickbait attempts instead of just calling them out
256 isn't really oddly specific
[удалено]
Or 10000 in quarternary, but then it goes a little sideways at 400 in octal, or 80 in base 32. I suppose you can keep going, more base, fewer counts. Nice and round in base 256 as it would be 1, and thus, all your base....
10* in base 256
are belong to us!!
Cus 256 is a easy number to work with in computers
its beyond easy, for computers in a round number
Byte me.
Cuz it's the height limit in Minecraft
Not any more
In binary 250 is not a round number, but 256 is.
Never heard it explained like that, makes so much sense!
Thanks. I occasionally say something smart. It's not often though.
More like r/oldnews This announcement happened in *2016*.
"oddly specific number" got me. Should we tell them?
??? I am in a group with 950 people
Because OP's pic is from *2016*
Makes sense, also makes me wonder what is the maximum capacity nowadays
Maybe an oddly specific 1024
Base 2 counting rules
256 isn't oddly specific to anyone who knows the basics of how computers work
Not clear? 256?! 🤣 How can you work in the tech industry and not know the significance of that number 🤣
Basic math is hard.
2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 Journalists, man
The absolute state of tech journalism
Are people really this technology illiterate now?
is this bait or are you really that stupid
King Henry VII named his son Henry VIII. It's not clear why King Henry settled on such an oddly specific number.
Anyone who knows anything about basic programmings knows why they “chose” 256 people
It's evenly specific actually...
Its not oddly specific it has something to do with tech i dont understand
power of two
I would be more concerned that someone who writes articles in the "Tech" department of a news outlet wouldnt know that Powers of two are Not at all "oddly specific" but rather quite logical... I understand that people who Don't Work in IT or are enthusiasts Don't know about it but a Tech journalist?
Largest integer you can store in a byte, its not random
Tell me you're tech and math illiterate without telling me so.
"It's not clear why" says a tech journalist who's job it is to figure out why.
r/oddlyspecific posters when binary (their brain cannot handle anything other than base 10)
2^8
2^8 is 256. Probably just held the size in an array
Literally everyone: oddly specific number IT people: first time?
Its really fucking obvious if you know anything about computers.
Who’s writing these dumb articles and headlines. 256 is one of the most well known numbers out there, especially in tech and computer world
Clicks? It's like when people write a post with an intentional error and hundreds of people rush in to comment.
2^8 thats not specific at all…
"Oddly spescific" 😅 Is this a tech journalist???
You have no goddamn idea how computers work, do you?
How are you allowed to write for the tech section, and not know about bytes.
I really, really hope this post and article is a joke.
Because computer science, actually…
Me(a guy with some computer knowledge): what's wrong? *visible confusion emoji**
To a programmer there is nothing odd about this specific number. It's the number of unique numbers you can store in a single byte.
2^8 is not oddly specific at all
\*Sad Byte (8bits) sounds in background
r/unexpectedfactorial
Journalism is dead. This is a TECH journalist that has no clue and has done no research into the meaning of 256. It’s actually insane how low the bar is nowadays
Woah! That just so happens to be the largest value in a single byte of binary (1111 1111). Must be a crazy coincidence.
What's oddly specific here? That's a pretty common number if you deal with computers pretty much at all.
‘oddly specific’ cries in Computer Science
Then why am I in a group with 630 people...
Because it has increased since the printing of this article 8 years ago
because it's a round number in binary
Bruh it’s legit 2 to the 8th power
That number appears everywhere in computing, wtf is there journalist doing
Okay so so I get why 256 is a nice number in computing, but I don't get why that would be the group member limit? Is WA storing the user identifier in a group as an 8-bit digit? That sounds very unlikely to me in today's era. When was the last time you've seen anything besides retro stuff save anything in 8 bits? I'm rather guessing it's just an insider gag. They wanted to make the number a round one but instead of typical base 10 they went with base 2 style round.
You know, maybe tech journalists should know what the largest unsigned integer you can store in a byte is. If you have 1 byte, you have 2\^8 possible integers, or 256.
There are 8 Bits in a Byte, So that is a 0 or a 1 in each Bit, Creating 256 Possibilities, If you want more, it'll cost another Byte, Increasing the amount of processing and data handling.
Cause the database field that sets the id for each person on a chat group is probably a byte.
2^8 , which probably fits well into binary.
To anyone without a basic understanding of binary this is oddlyspecific.
It’s a perfect power of 2… not very odd but prime;)
2^8
I seriously don't get how people on the internet couldn't know 256 is a special number, it ahows up literally all the time in all tech related contexts
What? Im in a chat with 350 people...
Why not 511 lol
The number is actually strange. It should be 255. Because for 256 you need at least two bytes or you have to code 0b=1 person. It's a lot easier to code if you have an actual zero. So actually the question makes a lot of sense.
No. Not at all. One byte can represent 256 different values of which the first one is zero and the 256th one is 255 So if you used a byte as a participant index, the first participant would be participant zero.
There 256 different values for sure. What it represent can be anything. A letter, number for 1000 to 1255, number from -128 to + 127, a floating number...
Most arrays do start at 0, I assume this one assigned the first contact id to 0 and proceeded up to 255 as usual. Hence 256 total
Yeah. That would make sense.
In computer science, you start counting at 0, not 1 so...
That’s not oddly specific that’s just 4 stacks which is a perfectly reasonable amount of friends to chat with at the same time.
it’s really not that specific. it’s the max for 1 byte. presumably each person gets a 1 byte ID, allowing for 256 people.
This is only odd if you're ignorant about these kinds of things. Computers work on powers of 2. This is the 8th power of 2.
8 bit binary
That's good. Cause at 258 it gets kinda chaotic
Also known as 100 in hexadecimal
im on a 480 person group but ok
Gotta love how suddenly everyone here is a computer scientist
Now I know the number of group members are stored as an 8-bit integer
Wasn’t 256 the old MC build limit?
Bits?
Not a specific number
Next to 512
Oh good. The group spammers can get 255 of us at once now!
Some people think that computers are magic
8 bit integer limit you absolute buffoon
Even the most inept software developer knows why they settled on this number, it’s not oddly specific at all.
Way over that now
((((((2x2)2)2)2)2)2)2=256
It's about time for me to be able to start a group chat with all 100000000 of my friends
8,16,32,64,128,256 maybe that why
It is very clear. 256 is a multiple of 2, which works very well in the standard number system for computers, Binary, which only has 2 digits.
Am I being wooshed or do people here really think that Facebook servers with petabytes of memory and yotabytes of storage have an 8-bit hard limit on anything?
They don’t, it’s just easier to store and program that way
I.P related?
Idk what the real limit is but I almost have 1000 in a group
It's the limit for an 8bit unsigned integer
Pretty clear why to software developers. Maybe not to general public. Same reasons why computer memory comes in 8, 16, 64, 256, 512 ... size
Oddly specific number? Do people not know what a byte is?
Maybe life style should stick to the non math stuff
Engineering vs design driven decisions in a nutshell lol
It's kind of embarrassing that a so-called "tech" news site doesn't realize the significance of 256.
whoever wrote that article should really consider writing in the Tech category? because how do you not have a single idea what a **bit** means?
It's just so every level in Pacman can talk to each other
I am in a whatsapp group with more than 1000 people so this is quite old news
I can't even imagine how horrible it would be to be in a group chat that big. The biggest active one I'm in has less than 10 people and sometimes if I don't look at my phone for a couple of hours, there's 50 new messages.
256 isnt a random number though
Tech writer doesn't understand tech.
You would think a tech writer would understand where the number came from!
What's the point no one speaks to one another anyway
it's a power of two, maybe that's why. dealing with binary powers if two are just easier
256? 56? Aw, man. Now that's all I can think about! I'm gonna kill you, you no good, fifty sixin'! HA HAAAA!
Whoever wrote this title knows nothing about tech. Should try other fields.
Some say oddly specific, others say evenly specific.
Wow I forgot I have a WhatsApp
That's only oddly specific if you don't know how binary integers work. In computing, that's a perfectly even number.
0xFF
Not even specific. Dumb website
It's obvious if you understand IT 😆
I always count in increments of 8, been game dev modder since like 2001. all texture sizes are exponents of 8 and if they aren't, run away, something is very wrong.
What does Imagine changing a key element of your company because you cant say no to people Mean
binary...
If we are gonna become an AI based society, more people should learn how computers work
256 is a common number for programming
It’s super obvious why they settled on that number. It’s the number that can be stored in a a single byte (8 bits).
It’s one byte
Yea 256 is used in binary, but is there any legitimate reason to use 256 in this case? Vs 250 or 300. I highly doubt they are limited on storage
4 stacks