Binary Code: What It Is And What It Is For

When talking about computing, we cannot ignore the binary code, the code with which computers communicate universally and allow all the information that passes through them to be processed. Although it is not the only code that exists so that computers can carry out their information-processing tasks, it is the only one currently being used.

Binary code is used in all computer equipment and in any device with a processing unit (CPU), which uses the code to carry out its tasks.

What is the binary code?

It is nothing more and nothing less than a coding system that allows texts and processing instructions to be represented in computing units. To carry out these instructions, the binary system is used, a system that only uses zeros and ones to encode the data.

Binary code uses strings of bits of the same length as the letters, digits, or symbols it wants to represent. When talking about bits in the binary code, their absence or presence is represented using 0 and 1, respectively.

All codes that use the binary system are generally weighted, which means that each sequence of digits has a certain associated weight that will not vary.

Origins of binary code

Although the binary system is currently used in computer machines that appeared in the early 1940s, the truth is that the binary system had already been invented centuries ago.

The first description of a known binary number system was presented by an ancient Hindu mathematician, Pingala, who offered this system no less than the 3rd century BC. After him, many other mathematicians gave their own views of binary systems, from Shao Yong in the 11th century to Juan Caramuel in 1670. However, the modern system was fully documented in the 17th century by Leibniz, and in 1854, George Boole, a British mathematician, developed an article detailing the logical system known as Algebra of Boole that would later be used to develop the current binary system used in computers.

Boolean Algebra was used for the first time together with binary arithmetic using relays and switches to design digital circuits by Claude Shannon in 1937. In the same year, George Stibitz created a calculator based on relays to perform calculations using binary addition.

How to write in binary code

As its name indicates, the binary code uses only two numbers, 0 and 1. All digits can be represented using the binary code; you have to learn to write using said code.

Typically, all letters are represented using 8-bit strings (eight zeros and ones). All that is needed is a table to know which string of zeros and ones correspond to certain letters, numbers and symbols, and even spaces are represented by a bit in the binary code.

Fortunately, it is not necessary to use a table and generate the binary code manually. Nowadays, many tools allow you to write binary code simply; all a person needs to do is write the text or numbers they want to convert to binary code and press a button to perform the transformation. To do this, what is known as a binary code converter is used.

Translate binary code

Do you have a string of bytes that you want to translate? Or, on the contrary, you want to translate a traditional text and convert it to binary code. You can find countless translators on the Internet to convert text to the binary system and vice versa.

If you want to convert numbers, you must use a binary calculator. These calculators allow you to transform decimal numbers to binary and vice versa. With a quick Google search, you can find a large number of them. When you access any of the calculators available on the Internet, you will have to go to the box that allows you to do the operation you want (convert decimal numbers to binary or convert binary numbers to decimal), and there, write the numbers you want to transform.

One of the best binary calculators is CalcuWorld, which, in addition to performing the conversion, also allows you to know why the transformation was performed that way. If you click on “explain answer,” you will be able to see how the operation was carried out. For example, if 2019 is converted to a binary number, it would result in the binary number 1111011111111100011, and the explanation is that “the number 2019 can be expressed as:

1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 32 + 2 + 1”, transforming these numbers in their corresponding bit strings.

If you want to convert text to a binary system, you must use a binary translator. It works in the same way as a binary calculator or a traditional translator. Simply write the words or phrases you want to translate and press a small button. To do this, the translator takes the ASCII code of the text and translates it into binary code and vice versa. In this way, it can be obtained that Tecnobits in binary system is “ 01010100 01100101 01100011 01101110 01101111 01100010 01101001 01110100 01110011”

What is binary code for?

These strings of zeros and ones are fundamental to the world of technology. As you have already seen, they can encrypt all existing characters to allow them to be later shown to the user in a readable way.

Binary code is used in all areas of computing and telecommunications. Current processors make use of this system to carry out processing orders, which results in all the information that passes through them using this system. Thanks to them, computers, cell phones, watches and other devices work with binary code.

But it is not only used to process information; binary code is also used to encrypt information and carry out data transfer or communications between devices.

Binary code has many uses that have allowed technology to advance incredibly quickly and opened up a whole world of possibilities for people today. Although work is being done on even more complex systems (in which a third bit can be used), binary code will continue to be very useful for many years. This is an important reason to study it and make use of it in a large number of areas.

What is the binary code?

This is the name given to text coding that uses 0 and 1, is measured in bits and its origins date back to the 3rd century BC thanks to an Indu mathematician.

How is binary code translated?

You can find different calculators online that perform these types of operations. We usually recommend CalcuWorld since it performs the transformation and explains how it performed the calculation.

What use is it?

It is mainly used in the technological and telecommunications field to process different data and be able to display it in a readable way.

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