Binary Language

The most commonly used numbering system in the modern world is the decimal system. Along with reading and writing, the decimal number system is one of the first things taught to most children in school. In order to understand how binary works, we can begin with examining the decimal system with which we are more familiar.

Understanding the Binary System
The decimal number system is also known as base 10 because it has a base of ten distinct numbers, or digits: We learn that once we have exhausted all ten digits (and we need to go higher than 9), we shift along one place and add a number in a new column, representing that one set of ten has been used.
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10 = ten

The 1 represents one set of ten, and the zero simply means 'nothing'. So the digits are added together and we get ten. Adding another number, we get 11. Here the 1 on the left represents one set of ten, and the 1 on the right represents one, so again adding the digits together we get eleven. The extra columns in the decimal system are all ascending multiples of ten.

The binary system works on exactly the same principles, in all but one important respect - instead of 10 distinct digits (1-9, base 10) the binary system only has a base of 2 distinct digits: This is known as base 2.
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It follows, then, that the same system of shifting along to another column will apply in binary as well as in the decimal system. This is exactly the case, except that because we are working in base 2, the values for each of those additional columns are also different. For an illustration, examine the tables shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.

The first column represents one. If there is a 1 present in this column, then we have a value of one. The next column along represents a value which is doubled once, or stepped up by a mathematical power; the extra columns in the binary system are all ascending multiples of two:

10 = two

The 1, in this case, represents one set of two, and the zero means 'nothing'. Summing the digits together knowing what each of them represents (as with the decimal system), we arrive at the answer two. If you can understand this fundamental process, then you already understand how binary works. YouTube user Bill NO demonstrates the concept further in Video 1:

With this knowledge, we can begin to understand the kind of 'language' that all digital data is based upon. Everything stored on a computer - including numbers, text, images, videos, and sound - is stored as strings of binary numbers. For example, there are several different conventions on how written text is encoded and stored digitally. One of these conventions is ASCII. The binary representations of Latin letters and decimal numbers are shown in Fig. 3. On the most basic level, any Microsoft Word document, quick note or web page (even a wiki) is made up of similar binary code. The different conventions for arranging text in binary can be extended for use in different formats. On a PC, all types of files on the hard drive bear a file extension (which is sometimes hidden by default) which indicates its format: E.G. .doc and .txt.

Audio information is stored in the same way, and has its own conventions. These conventions are known as digital audio formats. In much the same way as with text and images, audio has its own set of encoding standards and filetypes (which are known as containers). More on this can be found on the popular digital audio formats wiki page.

Analogues of binary language are used in many kinds of physical data storage, for example CDs use microscopic pits and lands (raised and lowered edges) etched into their surface which each represent either a binary 1 or a 0.

The binary language is the basis for all digital information and has revolutionised global communications systems. The limitations of computer systems are entirely based on exactly how many calculations a processor can perform during a given timeframe, using the binary system.

Bits and BytesBitbyte.jpg
Each digit in a string of binary numbers is known as a bit. This is the smallest division of data. Think of each bit as a single letter making up a word [though of course, in binary, there are only 2 'letters', as opposed to 26 in the English alphabet].

This analogy is taken very literally in the digital world, as the technical term for a collection of bits (depending on bit depth) is in fact a word (see Fig. 4).

The next step up from a bit is a byte, which is made up of 8 bits. Byte should be a familiar term to most people in the digital age - data drive capacity is measured in bytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes. A megabyte is equal to 1 048 576 bytes ( 220) , so that gives a good sense of perspective on just how small a bit actually is.

The details and implications of bit depth are discussed on the bit depth wiki page.