💻 Mpanova binary/hexadecimal/decimal

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A binary, hex and decimal converter shows the same whole number across number bases. Computers ultimately work in binary (base 2), but programmers routinely switch between bases to make values readable: decimal (base 10) for everyday quantities, hexadecimal (base 16) for byte values and memory addresses, and octal (base 8) for things like Unix file permissions. This converter takes a whole number in any of those four bases and shows it in all four at once, along with its bit length. The digits allowed in each base go up to one less than the base — binary uses 0–1, octal 0–7, decimal 0–9 and hex 0–9 then A–F for 10–15 — and the tool rejects digits that are out of range for the base you pick.

As a worked example, the decimal value 255 is FF in hexadecimal, 377 in octal and 11111111 in binary — eight bits all set, i.e. exactly one byte at its maximum. To convert decimal to hex by hand you repeatedly divide by 16 and read the remainders from last to first; the calculator does it instantly and also accepts input prefixed with 0x (hex), 0b (binary) or 0o (octal) and handles negative numbers.

The reason hexadecimal is so common in computing is that each hex digit maps to exactly four binary bits (a nibble), so two hex digits describe one byte with no ambiguity — which is why colour codes like #FF8800, MAC addresses and memory dumps are written in hex. This tool is handy for bit masks, colour values, debugging register contents and any low-level work where you need to see the same number across bases.