Endian

1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  -endian
       
           The ordering of {bytes} in a multi-byte
          number.
       
          The term comes from Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" via the


          famous paper "On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace" by Danny
          Cohen, USC/ISI IEN 137, 1980-04-01.
       
          The Lilliputians, being very small, had correspondingly small
          political problems.  The Big-Endian and Little-Endian parties
          debated over whether soft-boiled eggs should be opened at the
          big end or the little end.
       
          See {big-endian}, {little-endian}, {middle-endian}, {holy
          wars}, {NUXI problem}, {swab}.
       
          (1998-08-09)