Scratch

Here

It follows the same structure as base 10 (that is, decimal, the system almost everyone counts in).  In base ten, you have the "ones place", the "tens place", the "hundreds place", etc.  Notice anything about them?  They are all a power of 10.

10^0=1
10^1=10
10^2=100
10^3=1000

Binary code works the same way but in powers of two.

2^0=1
2^0=2
2^0=4
2^0=8
2^0=16

So:  1011 is equal to
(1*(2^3) )+(0*(2^2) )+(1*(2^1) )+(1*(2^0) ) = 8+2+1 = 11
2^3   2^2    2^1   2^0
1         0      1       1


As to the "reason" for it, it is simply far easier/efficient for computers to run in base two.  Computers are based on the concept of true and false, on and off, 1 and 0.  A "bit" is the smallest unit of memory and is one switch that is either on or off (1 or 0).  A byte is 8 bits, and can store any number from 00000000 (zero) to 11111111 (511).  Also, the use of true/false bits makes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division a lot easier for a computer.  Computers don't do arithmetic the way humans do.  They have to think of everything as a product of certain operators, such as the AND, OR, NOT, and XOR operators.  All of these operators can only return two values, true and false.

Now you probably know more than you wanted too 

Last edited by MoreGamesNow (2011-10-21 20:45:02)

ssss wrote:

Fixed.

Oops.  That's what I get for being lazy and copying and pasting.

Anyway, thanks for the correction.

Okay.  Thanks.  So it's like an array from right-to-left, 2^number of place in array.  But aren't programs at the most basic level written in binary code, too (I'm not planning on learning it as a new programming language, just curious)?  So… how does that work?  And there are also characters.  There's binary code for letters (I wonder if they encoded secret messages in binary code in the early days of computers).

Uh-oh, you're out of my realm of knowledge.  I risk mis-informing you, but:

Programming in its most basic form consists of calling for pieces of memory from one part of the computer, putting them in another, and running bits through a complex series of gates (NOT, OR, etc. as mentioned above).  However programmers don't deal with these gates usually.  Rather a "chip" is a complex set of gates that preform a specific function.  For instance, a "single-bit adder chip" adds two bits together.  One bit can only store a value of a zero or a one.  The possible results are below.

0+0=0
0+1=1
1+0=1
1+1=10

However, a 1-bit adder can only return one bit of data (2 bits go in, one bit goes out), so 1 + 1 in a 1-bit adder is zero

1 + 1 = 0

This gate is easy, just use the XOR gate.  XOR returns a 1 if either of the bits is 1, but not both of them (  (OR) AND (NOT AND)  ).

However, if you make it a 2-bit adder it gets more difficult (you have to carry over a 1 to the "2s place" if the "1s place" digits are both one.  For example:

01+01=10  (1+1=2)
11+01=00  (3+1=4)    (4 = 100 in binary code)
11+11=10  (3+3=6)    (6 = 110 in binary code)

I once built (on paper, not really "built") logic gates for 4-bit addition, and it doesn't get any easier as you go up     .

You computer has either a 32-bit or a 64-bit processor.  This means that it has a 32-bit (or 64-bit) adder, subtracter, multiplyer, divider, etc.  In effect, this means that adding two 32-bit variables takes no more effort for the computer than adding two bytes (8-bits).

Why did I tell you that?  Well... I felt a need to digress and over-inform you.

--------------------------

Basic programming (not the most basic) tells the computer where to move numbers and what to do with them.    This is called machine code / assembly language.  It is a step above binary.  Doesn't really answer your question, but since you seemed interested in very very basic programming, there is a small bit of it.  The only part I (think) I understand 

Last edited by MoreGamesNow (2011-10-22 20:28:15)

Death_Wish wrote:

maxskywalker wrote:

Okay.  Thanks.  So it's like an array from right-to-left, 2^number of place in array.  But aren't programs at the most basic level written in binary code, too (I'm not planning on learning it as a new programming language, just curious)?  So… how does that work?  And there are also characters.  There's binary code for letters (I wonder if they encoded secret messages in binary code in the early days of computers).

Some made in binary code to make programming for others easier, and then other apps are made with apps made in binary code. (My guess)

Well yeah, I know.  Most things trace back to C, and everything traces back to Assembly Language, which is made in Binary Code.

This reminds me of a quote I saw somewhere:

There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

xD

kimmy123 wrote:

cpumaster930 wrote:

This reminds me of a quote I saw somewhere:

There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

xD

What does that mean?

I presume you fall into the second category. 

10 in binary = 2 in decimal. 

cpumaster930 wrote:

kimmy123 wrote:

cpumaster930 wrote:

This reminds me of a quote I saw somewhere:
"There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary, and those who don't."
xD

What does that mean?

I presume you fall into the second category. 

10 in binary = 2 in decimal. 

lol, I remember that quote XD

Bump.

it works so:

there are two kinds of programming languages: low-level and high-level

low-level, like assembly, machine-code, and sometimes also C, provide larger control about the processes and the memory allocating, but have harder syntax, require more code lines, and only good if you want to do something fast, as you can control memory allocating yourself. (no garbage-collector!)

high-level, like java, c#, python(yay!), lisp, squeak, ruby etc have better syntax, and do much of the dirty work for you, without having to write a single line of code. they also don't require (as much) porting work.

all those languages are compiled, or interpreted.

compiled languages, like, BASIC or C++, are getting compiled, means they're getting translated into bit code (binary code, machine code, all the same  ), and run the code directly, giving the CPU etc. commands alone.

interpreted, like python or squeak, (are sometimes compiled to byte code and then) get interpreted in a VM

maxskywalker wrote:

Thanks.  Still interesting that not one person has even mentioned really doing something with machine code.

Probably because it is rarely done now.  In the infancy of computer programming you had no choice, but now C (or something similar) gives you great control without forcing you to stoop to the binary thinking of a computer.  I'd be surprised if anyone who has posted knows machine code.  The thinking is: why take hours to program something simple when I could take a fraction of the time using a "higher" language?

Last edited by MoreGamesNow (2011-10-25 17:07:00)