Binary code simplifies information representation using only ones and zeros. Bit strings represent text or computer instructions, stored in flip flop circuits and binary files. Binary codes have been used throughout human history, such as in feng shui, Nigerian symbols, and Braille.
Binary code can provide a way to simplify the representation of information. There are only two digits in a binary code: one and zero. Typical binary codes will use strings of ones and zeros to represent letters, numbers, or other concepts. An example is the binary representations of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), where each eight-character string is capable of representing any of 256 different variants. Binary codes are often used in computing and other electronic devices, although they have also been present in human history in other forms.
For a binary code to represent text, computer processor instructions, or other information, it must be broken up into discrete strings. These are often referred to as bit strings and can be fixed or dynamic in length. In this context, bit refers to each binary digit, so an eight-character string of binary code would contain eight bits of information. By using different encodings or character sets, bit strings like these can be created to represent many different things.
Computers and other electronic devices use so-called flip flop circuits to represent information in binary code. These circuits can vary in design, although they typically need to be able to exist in two discrete states. In computer science, a flip flop circuit usually represents one with a positive voltage and a zero with no voltage. Early examples of this design involved the use of bulky vacuum tubes and later discoveries that led to such objects as transistors and microchips. Components such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) can use flip flop circuits to store binary codes.
Even complex forms of data can be stored in binary code, often in discrete strings of eight bits each. A binary file can be anything from a simple text document to an executable program, and the data contained within will be represented with the same ones and zeros as any binary code. Because a binary file can contain images, sounds, or virtually any other type of information, it typically includes a header that a computer can use for identification purposes.
Binary codes have been around for much longer than modern computers, and examples of data represented by two discrete states are found throughout much of human history. The ancient concept of feng shui uses several binary sets in the form of yao symbols, each representing yin or yang. A Nigerian tribe has also used a binary set of a circle or two lines to represent information for thousands of years. Another form of binary code unrelated to computing is Braille, which uses groups of six dots to represent letters or numbers. Each dot can exist in one of two states, raised or flat, so that they can be read by the blind.
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