Homonym: 256 (Power)
The number 256 is a positive integer that follows 255 and precedes 257. It is notable for being a power of two, specifically 2^8, which means it can be expressed as 2 multiplied by itself eight times. This property makes it significant in computer science, particularly in digital systems and binary code.
In the context of computing, 256 is often associated with the number of distinct values that can be represented with one byte. A byte consists of 8 bits, and since each bit can be either 0 or 1, the total combinations yield 256 different values, ranging from 0 to 255.