@@ -252,20 +252,25 @@ Binary Data
252252-----------
253253254254It is perfectly possible to send binary data over a socket. The major problem is
255-that not all machines use the same formats for binary data. For example, a
256-Motorola chip will represent a 16 bit integer with the value 1 as the two hex
257-bytes 00 01. Intel and DEC, however, are byte-reversed - that same 1 is 01 00.
255+that not all machines use the same formats for binary data. For example,
256+`network byte order <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness#Networking>`_
257+is big-endian, with the most significant byte first,
258+so a 16 bit integer with the value ``1`` would be the two hex bytes ``00 01``.
259+However, most common processors (x86/AMD64, ARM, RISC-V), are little-endian,
260+with the least significant byte first - that same ``1`` would be ``01 00``.
261+258262Socket libraries have calls for converting 16 and 32 bit integers - ``ntohl,
259263htonl, ntohs, htons`` where "n" means *network* and "h" means *host*, "s" means
260264*short* and "l" means *long*. Where network order is host order, these do
261265nothing, but where the machine is byte-reversed, these swap the bytes around
262266appropriately.
263267264-In these days of 32 bit machines, the ascii representation of binary data is
268+In these days of 64-bit machines, the ASCII representation of binary data is
265269frequently smaller than the binary representation. That's because a surprising
266-amount of the time, all those longs have the value 0, or maybe 1. The string "0"
267-would be two bytes, while binary is four. Of course, this doesn't fit well with
268-fixed-length messages. Decisions, decisions.
270+amount of the time, most integers have the value 0, or maybe 1.
271+The string ``"0"`` would be two bytes, while a full 64-bit integer would be 8.
272+Of course, this doesn't fit well with fixed-length messages.
273+Decisions, decisions.
269274270275271276Disconnecting