Binary Numbers

In mathematical terms, binary numbers are represented in base 2, representing numbers as a series of 1s and 0s. Computers work in the binary system because binary numbers can be represented easily in electric circuitry by electrical “on” and “off” states.

In the hacker community, the word binary means “not text.” In computing, every 8 binary digits (bits) is used to represent a byte. The full range of 256 values in a byte is not used to convey text, so data that uses only this subset is typically text data.

See Also: Bit and Bit Challenges; Byte.