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Hexadecimal

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Hexadecimal (often shortened to hex) is a base-16 number system used in computing to represent Binary Data in a compact, human-readable form. (ref: en.wikipedia)

Unlike the decimal system (base-10) which uses 10 symbols (0–9), hexadecimal uses 16 symbols:

  • Digits 0–9 for values zero to nine
  • Letters A–F (or a–f) for values ten to fifteen (A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15)freecodecamp
0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F  (Hexadecimal)
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0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 12 13 14 15 (Indices)

Key Properties

  • One hex digit = 4 bits: Since 24=162^4 = 1624=16, each hexadecimal digit represents exactly 4 binary Bits (a “nibble”). This makes conversion between binary and hex straightforward. (ref: electronics-tutorials)

  • Compact notation: A Byte (8 bits) can be written as just 2 hex digits. For example, binary 10110111 becomes B7 in hex. (ref: ionos)

  • Prefix convention: In programming, hex numbers are often prefixed with 0x to distinguish them (e.g., 0xFF = 255 in decimal). (ref: freecodecamp)

Common Uses in Computing

  • Memory addresses: RAM locations displayed in hex (e.g., 0x7FFE)

  • Color codes: Web colors like #FF5733

  • MAC addresses: Network hardware IDs like 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E

  • Machine code & debugging: Assembly and binary data shown in hex for readability. (ref: en.wikipedia)

Hexadecimal bridges the gap between human-friendly notation and machine-level binary, making it essential for low-level programming, debugging, and system design.

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