Binary
Base-2 system with only 0 and 1—computer's native language.
Binary is a positional numeral system with a radix (base) of 2. It uses only two digits: 0 and 1, called bits (binary digits). Every digital computer operates on binary because electronic circuits have two stable states: on (1) and off (0).
Position values (right to left): 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32...
Example: 1011₂ = 1×8 + 0×4 + 1×2 + 1×1 = 11₁₀
8 bits = 1 byte, representing values 0-255 (unsigned) or -128 to 127 (signed, two's complement).
graph LR
Center["Binary"]:::main
Rel_bit["bit"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_bit "/terms/bit"
Rel_byte["byte"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_byte "/terms/byte"
Rel_hexadecimal["hexadecimal"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_hexadecimal "/terms/hexadecimal"
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🧠 Knowledge Check
🧒 Explain Like I'm 5
Computers don't understand letters or words; they only understand 'on' and 'off'. Binary is the list of 'on/off' signals that make everything work.
🤓 Expert Deep Dive
Two's complement represents negative integers (invert bits, add 1). IEEE 754 encodes floating-point with sign, exponent, and mantissa bits. Bitwise operations (AND, OR, XOR, shifts) enable efficient low-level manipulation. Binary-coded decimal (BCD) encodes each decimal digit in 4 bits.