Number Base

Convert a number between decimal, binary, octal, and hexadecimal representations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the different number bases?

Decimal (base 10) — everyday numbers using digits 0–9. Binary (base 2) — computers store all data as 0s and 1s. Octal (base 8) — digits 0–7; historically used for Unix file permissions (chmod 755). Hexadecimal (base 16) — digits 0–9 and A–F; compact representation of binary data, used in colors, memory addresses, and hashes.

Why do programmers use hexadecimal so often?

Each hex digit represents exactly 4 bits, so a byte (8 bits) is always exactly two hex digits. This makes it easy to inspect raw binary data — a SHA-256 hash is 64 hex characters instead of 256 ones and zeros. IPv6 addresses, MAC addresses, and color codes are all written in hex for the same compactness reason.

How do I convert in code?

In Python: bin(42)'0b101010', hex(255)'0xff', oct(8)'0o10'. To convert back: int('ff', 16) → 255, int('1010', 2) → 10. In JavaScript: (255).toString(16)'ff', parseInt('ff', 16) → 255.