The Invent with Python Blog

Writings from the author of Automate the Boring Stuff.

Decimal, Binary, and Hexadecimal Odometers

Thu 20 June 2013    Al Sweigart

It can be difficult to see how other number systems (such as binary and hexadecimal) work since they have a different amount of numerals than the ten numerals of decimal. But imagine that you are counting in these number systems using an old-fashioned analog odometer that has a different amount of numerals for each digit.

The following three odometers always show the same number, but they are written out differently in different number systems:

Decimal (Base-10: 0123456789)

Binary (Base-2: 01)

Hexadecimal (Base-16: 0123456789ABCDEF)



Source code for Gavin Brock's JavaScript odometers. Source code for this binary/decimal/hexadecimal demo all on a single page.



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