An Overview to binary, Decimal, Hexadecimal, Octal

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Date: July 11, 2019

An Overview to Number Systems:

Have you ever wondered after reading the binary, decimal, hexadecimal numbers what they are?

If you are related to somehow with computer programming, then you will be well aware of all these systems, but if you aren’t, then you might be pondering about their meaning.

No matter whatever the case is, today we will look into the number systems that are widely used all across the world in computer programming. If you are incognizant about all these number systems, then this article is a must-read for you. After going through this post, you will be able to figure out the basics of these number systems. So, without wasting the time, let’s straight away delve into the topic.

Basics of Number Systems

You might know what these number systems are, and that is the reason you are here. Without putting any complication. Let’s understand it simply that, we and the computer devices use it to interpret different data and information. The base-8 number system is called Octal, while base-16 represent hexadecimal, base-10 is decimal, and base-2 represent binary numbers.

RGB Color Model

Colors can be represented in different ways, but the most common method used mostly by web developers and computer programmers is the RGB color model. In the confines of this model, every color is made up by using red, green, and blue.

Are you lost in thought how number system is related to colors? It is not possible for the browsers to know the name of every color as there are complexities in the formation of color. So, every color is assigned a number to make it easy for the browsers to read them. Coders and developers use RGB color model numbers to determine the colors while developing an online utility.

Base-8 & Base-10 Number System

Throughout your life, you have been using the decimal or base-10 number system. Let’s make it easy, what is 6 + 9. You will answer 15; it means that you are using decimal or base-10 number system. Let me understand the whole process by counting. It will remind you of your elementary level classes. Let’s start with 0, 1, 2, 3……….

And you end up at 9, over here you run out of digits to represent the next numbers, and you look back to pick up 0 and 1 to form the number 10. The whole process goes continuously until you reach 99 and you start adding another digit and process is infinite.

Similar to the base-10 number system, it also goes through the same pattern, but unlike decimal number system in this one, we only have 8 digits from 0 to 7. So, this system is also used across multiple devices.

(Pro-tip to convert, Decimal to binary or Binary to Decimal)

Hexadecimal or Base-16 Number System

The most critical and essential number system is hexadecimal as it is widely used in computer programming. As it’s evident by the name of this number system it is based on 16 digits, but after 9 we will run out of digits, so we start using alphabets to for the formation of hexadecimal. It is commonly used by digital devices to interpret different data, especially when it comes to browsers, they are usually using this system to read the information or data given to them.

(Pro Tip: Convert Binary to Hex or Hex to Binary)

Number System Conversion

At first glance, it seems to be strenuous for converting number system manually, but you can easily convert them by using online utilities. Internet is flooded with tools that can help you out in the conversion process. There are many drawbacks associated with manual conversion as it is time-consuming, and there are always chances of erroneous results. So, it is better to use the online conversion utilities to make your work easy and hassle-free.