Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!rochester!udel!new
From: new@udel.EDU (Darren New)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: "big endian" and "little endian" - first usage for computer
Message-ID: <6323@louie.udel.EDU>
Date: 7 Jan 89 17:50:00 GMT
References: <170@microsoft.UUCP> <4008@hubcap.UUCP> <482@babbage.acc.virginia.edu>
Sender: usenet@udel.EDU
Reply-To: new@udel.EDU (Darren New)
Organization: University of Delaware
Lines: 20

In article <482@babbage.acc.virginia.edu> mac3n@babbage.acc.virginia.edu (Alex Colvin) writes:
>shift.  The big/little thing only has meaning in addressing parts.
>
>Another notational screw-up is where to put address 0 when drawing memory.  I
>always put it at the top ("up there at the bottom of memory").

Actually, the basic problem is that we use left-to-right text and right-to-left
numbers. If you print a dump like this:

 012A34C5 34CA5D28 <- 00000000 -> textline
  ^^^ hex dump        ^^ addr      ^^ text dump

then most of the notational problems go away. (Computer Language, 
Programming on Purpose column (i think) a few yrs ago)
I.e., print numbers right to left and text left
to right.
As far as the memory map goes, were we to write text from the bottom of the page
up, then "earlier" and "lower" would correspond, and thus "lower addresses" and
"lower on the page" would match.
                                        - Darren