Intel 253666-024US - Manual (Page 24)

1-4 Vol. 2A
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
1.3.1 Bit and Byte Order
In illustrations of data structures in memory, smaller addresses appear toward the
bottom of the figure; addresses increase toward the top. Bit positions are numbered
from right to left. The numerical value of a set bit is equal to two raised to the power
of the bit position. IA-32 processors are “little endian” machines; this means the
bytes of a word are numbered starting from the least significant byte. Figure 1-1
illustrates these conventions.