Sea Story follows:

I was told many years ago the term 'banging' for data transfer came from tap codes. The typical simple tap-code is a noise Cipher and bang/tap is a onomatopoeia of the sound.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_code

I can't find any sources that confirm that theory, but It would make sense that the "banging" is related to a physical movement.

 

I can't find any sources that confirm that theory, but It would make sense that the "banging" is related to a physical movement.

Bang was also used for old telegraph keying with a electromagnet sounder tapper for Clickclack or click, clack for Dot or Dash.

 

"Bit banging" is a slang term - I always thought that it is meant that it is the "poor man's" way of doing it, rather than using dedicated hardware. i.e. The cheap and nasty way of doing it.

I also thought it was derogatory. I suspect it might be of American origin - the British are not quite so keen on the alliteration! So I suspect whoever thought it up was simply looking for something that started with "B".

 

I also thought it was derogatory. I suspect it might be of American origin - the British are not quite so keen on the alliteration! So I suspect whoever thought it up was simply looking for something that started with "B".

It's unlikely the term Bit-Bang was haphazardly chosen. 'Bang' has a long history of being used when binary translations happen in classical control theory.

https://www.axcontrol.com/blog/2021/what-is-bang-bang-control/20/07/
The Bang-Bang control symbol. Looks very similar to serial bit level changes.

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/1041fa.pdf

 

It's unlikely the term Bit-Bang was haphazardly chosen. 'Bang' has a long history of being used when binary translations happen in classical control theory.
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https://www.axcontrol.com/blog/2021/what-is-bang-bang-control/20/07/
The Bang-Bang control symbol. Looks very similar to serial bit level changes.

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/1041fa.pdf

I think that makes a lot of sense - "bit" because you are sending one bit at a time via software, and "banging" because that is the traditional name for binary output.

It is also a nice alliteration, so it makes the term memorable.


I can't seem to find any credible sources supporting this, but it does make a lot of sense.