MSB and LSB - these are the abbreviations

When programming, you have probably stumbled across the abbreviations "MSB" and "LSB". Find out what the abbreviations are all about in this practical tip.

Bit significance: MSB & LSB - simply explained

The bit value is there to determine the significance of each bit. This is important for serial transmissions, for example.

• LSB stands for "Least Significant Bit". If a bit sequence is numbered according to the LSB-0 bit numbering, then the bit with the index 0 has the least significance.
• MSB stands for "Most Significant Bit". With MSB-0 bit numbering, the bit with index 0 has the highest priority. If the bit with index 0 has the highest value for a binary number with positions 0, 1, ..., N-1, its value must be multiplied by 2 high (N-1).
• For a better understanding of the topic, we have an article for you on binary and hexadecimal numbers.

In the next practical tip we will show you how you can convert ASCII letters to binary numbers.