What is Hexadecimal?
(Hex)
Defintion
The hexadecimal numeral system, also known as just hex, is a numeral system made up of 16 symbols (base 16). The standard numeral system is called decimal (base 10) and uses 10 symbols: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Hexadecimal uses the decimal numbers and includes six extra symbols. We do not have symbols that mean ten, or eleven etc. so these symbols are characters taken from the English alphabet: A, B, C, D, E and F. Hexadecimal A = decimal 10, and hexadecimal F = decimal 15.
Why do we/Computers use Hexadecimal?
- A computer uses binary, because it works using bits (a bunch of 0s and 1s). Humans use hexadecimal representations because they're easier to convert into decimal, than binary.
- If you group together 4 bits (binary digits) you get a hexadecimal number that is easier to read than a binary number. Hexadecimal also takes up less room on the screen or page.