In many IT-related fields of study, it is extremely valuable to have a good understanding of the number systems that are often encountered. For many people, not appreciating things such as binary and hexadecimal is a stumbling block that keeps them from advancing their knowledge. If you cringe a little bit at the mention of these topics, then this white paper is definitely for you. | Global Knowledge Expert Reference Series ofWhite Papers Number Systems Decoded Binary Decimal and Hexadecimal 1-800-COURSES Number Systems Decoded Binary Decimal and Hexadecimal George Mays CISSP CCNA A Security Network Introduction In many IT-related fields of study it is extremely valuable to have a good understanding of the number systems that are often encountered. For many people not appreciating things such as binary and hexadecimal is a stumbling block that keeps them from advancing their knowledge. If you cringe a little bit at the mention of these topics then this white paper is definitely for you. Of course you may have learned these things many years ago and you would like a refresher course on number systems. Or perhaps you are tired of not understanding the gobbledygook that appears in file dumps in routing tables and in your protocol analysis tools. Whatever your particular reasons for reading this white paper are I welcome your attention. What You Will Learn We all have an instinctive feel for what numbers are. They are used on a regular basis to identify a particular house on a street a channel on the television or how much to pay for an item. Numbers are used in a variety of ways they are most often used to convey a quantity to someone twelve chairs for instance. Numbers are also used in verbal codes such as 10-4 ten-four . Sometimes they are part of an address such as zip codes . Despite the intended use numbers are constructed in the same way and follow the same basic set of rules. Understanding those rules is the key to advancing your appreciation of numbers. Several systems of numbers are commonly used in computing circles. These are the decimal binary and hexadecimal number systems. These alternative number systems have three things in common a base number sometimes called a radix a set of digits or numerals to work with and a positional notation in which the position of a given digit affects how it is interpreted. Each
