| Hexadecimal, sometimes called hex, is a base-16 numbering system for representing binary numbers. Children learn about the base-10 numbering system in grammar school, which we use for simple math: decimal. Hexadecimal is useful because binary code, consisting
of 0s and 1s, can become long when writing something electronically. Just one byte, for instance, consists of at least eight digits, or bits. Hexadecimal is used frequently for specifying colors in World Wide Web pages. Computers also use it to describe
memory addresses and programmers find it useful for computing numbers in preparation for programming.
The hexadecimal numbering system uses combinations of 16 various digits to represent all numerical values. It consists of the 10 digits in the regular decimal system (0, 1, 2, . . . 9), as well as the letters ranging from A to F, which represent the range
between 10 and 15, so the hex radix looks like this: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Using a combination of these characters, it is possible to represent a two-digit number (10) using one character (A). |
