Everyone who communicates with a computer or other digital technology, had to meet mysterious records such as 10FEF, which seem uninitiated by some kind of cipher. What is hidden behind these symbols? Turns out it's just numbers. Those using a hexadecimal number system.
Number systems
Every student knows, or at least somewhere, has heard that all the numbers that we usually use form a decimal number system. She bears this name simply because there are only ten different characters in it (from 0 to 9). Any number in our familiar system can be written with their help. However, it turns out that it is far from always convenient to use it. For example, when exchanging information between digital devices, it is easiest to use a number system in which there are only two digits: “0” - there is no signal - or “1” - there is a signal (voltage or something else). It is called binary. However, to describe the processes inside such devices with its help, it will be necessary to make records that are too long and difficult to understand. Therefore, a hexadecimal number system was invented.
Hexadecimal notation
Why is a system that contains sixteen different characters used for digital devices? As you know, information in computers is transmitted in the form of bytes, which usually contain 8 bits. And the data unit - the machine word - includes 2 bytes, that is 16 bits. Thus, using sixteen different characters, one can describe the information that is the smallest particle in the exchange. The hexadecimal number system includes our usual numbers (naturally, from 0 to 9), as well as the first letters of the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F). It is with the help of these characters that it is customary to record any unit of information. With them you can produce any arithmetic operations. That is, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. The result will also be a hexadecimal number.
Where applicable
A hexadecimal system is used to record error codes. They can occur during the work of various software products. For example, operating system errors are encoded in this way. Each number is standard. You can find out exactly what error occurred during the work, decrypting it using the instructions. Such symbols are also used when writing programs in low-level languages, such as assembler. The hexadecimal number system is also loved by programmers also because its components can very easily be converted to binary, which are “native” to all digital technology. With the help of such symbols color schemes are also described. In addition, absolutely all files on a computer (both text, graphic, and even music or video) are presented after broadcast as a sequence of binary codes. It is most convenient to view the source just in the form of hexadecimal characters.
Of course, any number can be written in various number systems. This is decimal, binary, and hexadecimal. To translate a word from one of them to another, you should use a service such as a number system translator, or do it yourself using a specific algorithm.