In mathematics and computing, the hexadecimal (also base 16 or hex) numeral system is a positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of 16. Unlike the common way of representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexadecimal uses 16 distinct symbols, most often the symbols "0"–"9" to represent values 0 to 9, and "A"–"F" (or alternatively "a"–"f") to represent values 10 to 15.
Hexadecimal numerals are widely used by computer system designers and programmers because they provide a human-friendly representation of binary-coded values. Each hexadecimal digit represents four bits (binary digits), also known as a nibble (or nybble), which is 1/2 of a byte. For example, a single byte can have values ranging from 00000000 to 11111111 in binary form, which can be conveniently represented as 00 to FF in hexadecimal.
In mathematics, a subscript is typically used to specify the base. For example, the decimal value 41,427 would be expressed in hexadecimal as A1D316. In programming, a number of notations are used to denote hexadecimal numbers, usually involving a prefix or suffix. The prefix 0x is used in C and related programming languages, which would denote this value as 0xA1D3.
Hexadecimal is used in the transfer encoding Base16, in which each byte of the plaintext is broken into two 4-bit values and represented by two hexadecimal digits.
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HEX | Cryptocurrency |
Macintosh Binhex Encoded File Archive (ascii) | File Type |
Hex Dump | File Type |
Hexagon | Maths |
Health Evolution on X | Medical |
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Helsinki Exchange | Stock Exchange |
Hexadecimal | Telecommunication |
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