It’s the same process you use when you read a decimal (also known as a Denary number) number
such as ‘89’ - ie (8x10)+(9). It just happens that multiplying by ten is a great deal simpler unless
you’ve had a lot of practise at multiplying by 16.
If you’ve got this far without becoming too confused, then you are well on your way to getting a grasp
of the basic principles of the computer. You may even be wondering what all the fuss is about - and
you’d be quite correct. A computer is a device that manages very simple concepts and ideas: it just
happens to perform these tasks at great speed (millions of times per second), and with a huge
capacity to remember both the data that has been input, and the intermediate results of the many
thousands of very simple sums along the way to the result.
If you want to pursue the theory of your computer, there are literally thousands of books available on
the subject of computing. Some will tend to leave you more confused than you were when you started
reading them, and a few will actually lead you along the way by revealing the simplicity and the
fundamental relationships that exist between the number systems, and the way your computer deals
with them.
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