Binary code

(′bīn·ə·rē ¦kōd)

(computer science) A code in which each allowable position has one of two possible states, commonly 0 and 1; the binary number system is one of many binary codes.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: binary code

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Code used in digital computers, based on a binary number system in which there are only two possible states, off and on, usually symbolized by 0 and 1. Whereas in a decimal system, which employs 10 digits, each digit position represents a power of 10 (100, 1,000, etc.), in a binary system each digit position represents a power of 2 (4, 8, 16, etc.). A binary code signal is a series of electrical pulses that represent numbers, characters, and operations to be performed. A device called a clock sends out regular pulses, and components such as transistors switch on (1) or off (0) to pass or block the pulses. In binary code, each decimal number (0 – 9) is represented by a set of four binary digits, or bits. The four fundamental arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) can all be reduced to combinations of fundamental Boolean algebraic operations (see Boolean algebra) on binary numbers.

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Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: binary code

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A coding system made up of binary digits. See BCD, data code and numbers.

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WordNet: binary code

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: code using a string of 8 binary digits to represent characters

Wikipedia: Binary code

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The word 'Wikipedia' represented in ASCII binary.

Binary code is the system of representing text or computer processor instructions by the use of the binary number system's two-binary digits "0" and "1". A binary string of eight digits (bits), for example, can represent any of 256 possible values and can correspond to a variety of different symbols, letters or instructions. In 8-bit ASCII code the lowercase a is represented by the bit string 01100001.

In computing and telecommunication, binary code is used for any of a variety of methods of encoding data, such as character strings, into bit strings. Those methods may be fixed-width or variable-width.

In a fixed-width binary code, each letter, digit, or other character, is represented by a bit string of the same length; that bit string, interpreted as a binary number, is usually displayed in code tables in octal, decimal or hexadecimal notation.

There are many character sets and many character encodings for them.

A bit string, interpreted as a binary number, can be translated into a decimal number.

Early uses of Binary codes

Anton Glaser, in History of Binary and other Nondecimal Numeration. Tomash. 1971. ISBN 0-938228-005. , Chapter VII Applications to Computers, cites the following Pre-ENIAC milestones.

1932: C.E. Wynn-Williams "Scale of Two" counter
1938: Atanasoff-Berry Computer
1939: Stibitz: "excess three" code in the Complex Computer

Weight of binary codes

The weight of a binary code, as defined in [1], is the Hamming weight of the binary words coding for the represented words or sequences.

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Binary code

Early uses of Binary codes

Weight of binary codes

See also