Bases

A base is a number system that assigns characters to values. The most common numbering systems found in computer science are:

• Base-2 (more commonly known as binary)

  • Uses 0s and 1s to represent data

• Base-10 (also known as denary)

  • Uses the numbers 0-9 to represent data.

• Base-16 (also known as hexadecimal)

  • Uses 0-9 and the letters A-F to represent data.

There's also:

• Base-8 (also known as octal)

  • Uses the numbers 0-7

• Base32

In normal, everyday use, we commonly use base 10 to represent numbers, as we don't often deal with large numbers on a day-to-day basis.

We can also represent values in different number systems, which can end up making some numbers look very odd to the untrained eye. For example:

• 255 in denary

• FF in hexadecimal

• 1111 1111

To show you all of these, I will now encode the message: {Hello! We are The WINRaRs} in Base 2, Base 8, Base 16, Base 32, Base 64, and Base 85.

• Base 2

• Base 8

• Base 16

• Base 32

• Base 64

• Base 85

Notice how as we go along, the encoded strings get shorter? That's because we have more available slots to assign characters to.

You can even try and decrypt these messages here: