Understanding Binary Code

[Zebramax]

Hey, i'm new here and i'm having a little trouble. i"m needing to learn the fundamentals of binary code but it seems every link i've found on the topic just leaves me even more stumped than i began. Is there anyone out there who can explain it in simpler terms to help me understand... or who knows a site that may be able to help. I've got to get my head around how computers use the code. I'd really really appreciate it.

...pleeeeeeeease????????????


Jess

 

[S0ULphIRE]

In binary you either have a 1 or a 0. Usually 1 means "on" or "set", and 0 means "clear" or "off". The complicated bit is all the gates and logic circuts in the computer. Different chips in the computer have different gates. i.e the 74LS00 has NAND gates. i cant explain it too well, but when you wire those chips up (connect them to a power source and other chips or switches) they can do different types of jobs/instructions. If a switch, connected to a chip, is off, it is sending 0 volts to the chip. The chip interprets that as a logic 0. which, depending on the chip, will do different things. It might turn the hdd light on, or make it blink once every 1 second. add, TONS of other circuts, and you have a computer! thats how it works in the big picture, but what part do you have trouble with?

 

[saladfork]

only 10 kinds of people in the world..

 

[S0ULphIRE]

...those who understand binary and those who dont. lol, i like that one.

 

[peterhuang913]

only 10 kinds of people in the world..

those that understand binary, and those who don't

 

[S0ULphIRE]

those that understand binary, and those who don't

ha, bit late there dude! lol

 

[carnageX]

Does anybody remember how to convert binary into normal numbers? I knew at one time, but now I've forgotten how? E.g. when you open up the calculator in Windows, type a number in the number field while in Hex (or something like that)/then click the Bin radio button, it converts the number you typed in, into binary? I knew how to do it in my head, but I can't remember now, so do any of you happen to?

 

[Apokalipse]

Okay, here's a really simple way to explain what binary is:

It's just a number system. That's all.

We normally use base ten, where the digits "10" equals, well... ten.

Binary is a base two system, where the digits "10" equal two.

In our base ten system, we use the digits:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
etc..

But in binary, the digits are:
0
1
10
11
100
101
110
111
1000
1001
etc...

A really simple way to convert binary numbers to base ten numbers is this:
1 = 1
10 = 2
100 = 4
1000 = 8
10000 = 16
100000 = 32
1000000 = 64
10000000 = 128

Or you can calculate it with
1X = 2^x
where X is the number of zeros after the first '1' in the binary number

Take the number (binary) 100110 for example
it equals (binary) 100000 + 100 + 10
which in decimal, equals 32 + 4 + 2 = 38

 

[carnageX]

Ah, ok. Thanks Apok =). That's a more simpler way of doing it than I was taught xD.

 

[saladfork]

And hex is the same, except it uses 0-9 and then A-F

Its crazy like.