Editing Bitstream (section)

{{short description|Sequence of binary digits}}
{{for|the more theoretical concept in computer science|Stream (computer science)}}
{{for|data streams|Data stream}}
{{other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2016}}

A '''bitstream''' (or '''bit stream'''), also known as '''binary sequence''', is a [[sequence]] of [[bit]]s.
A '''bytestream''' is a sequence of [[byte]]s.  Typically, each byte is an [[Octet (computing)|8-bit quantity]], and so the term '''octet stream''' is sometimes used interchangeably. An octet may be encoded as a sequence of 8 bits in multiple different ways (see [[bit numbering]]) so there is no unique and direct translation between bytestreams and bitstreams.

Bitstreams and bytestreams are used extensively in [[telecommunications]] and [[computing]]. For example, [[synchronous]] bitstreams are carried by [[SONET]], and [[Transmission Control Protocol]] transports an [[Asynchronous communication|asynchronous]] bytestream.