Binary - Key Vocab and Comprehension Test

a binary shift, either left or right. When performing a right shift, the cleared positions on the left are filled with copies of the MSB. When performing a left shift, the cleared positions on the right are replaced with only 0s.

data represented by just two values (e.g. high/low, on/off, 1/0).

an operation in which all the bits of a binary pattern are shifted a number of places to either the left or the right.

short for binary digit, this is the smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit can have the value 1 or 0, corresponding to on or off. All the data in a computer system is represented as patterns of bits.

A base-16 number system designed to make handling long patterns of binary digits easier for humans.

any zero digit that comes before the first non-zero digit in a binary number. Used to pad out a binary number ot make it a specific length e.g. 8 bits or 16 bits.

The rightmost bit of a binary number with the lowest place value of 2^0.

A binary shift, either left or right, where the cleared positions are filled with only 0s. Used to shift unsigned binary numbers.

The leftmost bit of a binary number with the highest place value. In an 8-bit binary number, the leftmost bit has a weighting of 2^7 (128).

An error that occurs when a calculation produces a result that is greater than the computer can store. This error will produce an inaccurate result, which if undetected will have a knock-on effect on subsequent calculations and could cause the program to crash or produce incorrect output.