I’m asking this because data in game cartridges always seem to be shown in hexadecimal values instead of binary. I reckon maybe hexadecimal is more convenient than binary.
In: Technology
Barring quantum computing and novelty devices, computer memory is always in binary. If current is running through a circuit, that’s a 1, otherwise 0. It’s really hard to design something that is both as small/fast as current computer chips and can take on more than two states.
Hexadecimal is often used to write computer memory for human consumption because 4 binary bits is exactly the same as one hexadecimal number. This allows you break the memory into easy chunks. When you change a digit in a hexadecimal number, you only change it’s 4 associated binary digits, not any of the digits around it. This does not hold for decimal.
Example:
-Hexadecimal 31 is 00110001 in binary. Hexadecimal 32 is 00110010 in binary. The first block of 4 binary digits did not change because we only changed the second hexadecimal digit.
-Decimal 31 is 00011111 in binary. Decimal 32 is 00100000 in binary. Both blocks of 4 binary digits changed despite only changing one decimal digit.
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