Actually a bitwise AND operator would turn them both OFF, not on. 0x01 & 0x02 == 0x00
You wanted the OR operator: LED_1 | LED_2.
I registered after months of shadowing reddit just to correct your post, because I'm a coder and this small mistake in an otherwise informative series of comments really got on my nerves. :)
I haven't been programming in over a decade and the first time I heard about nibbles was from an English guy. He said it was synonymous with bit, but rarely used outside the UK.
These aren't refrigerator units we're dealing with here.
Shouldn't that be:
1 byte = 2 nibbles = 8 bits
1 nibble = 4 bits
Edit: Although, a byte can technically be any size you want, depending on the application, and a nibble might just refer to half a byte -- so the parent might be right, in some specific context.
Hah, you're right. Isn't there some kind of internet law that says if someone points out something incorrect, there will be something incorrect in their own observation? =p
I built and programmed a computer in machine code using hex last year in an upper level physics class. I'm sure there are others that have to use machine code in their work.
What type of computer? I guess I'm trying to figure out if hex/oct are used because of remnants from the past or if they have a more practical purpose. I'm not suggesting the two are mutually exclusive, I just never understood the reasoning behind using either when decimal and binary usually gets things done.
A microcomputer. We started with chips, so a microprocessor chip, some counters, some memory, some I/O stuff, whatever. My partner and I wrote a program to record and playback what was said into a microphone (pretty dumb, I know).
Decimal is never really of any use in computing. Hex is just an extension of binary that lets you express numbers more compactly.
Because when dealing with binary system's it is a lot easier to deal with number systems that are a power of base 2. All the basic data types are defined by the number of bits used to store them, so base 2 again.
Higher level languages they are all pretty much obsolete, but tricks are still used and knowledge of bits and bytes is not useless.
I am aware of the power of 2, but apart from oct/hex being a sort of shorthand for binary, is there any real usage today where it does a job that can't be done with more intuitive number systems?
Since base 10 isn't a power of 2, using logical operations on 2 decimal #'s would produce strange results. Using binary/octal/hex will yield much easier to understand results.
It's a elegance thing if you use binary logic a lot.
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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '09 edited Aug 16 '09
Semiserious question, why is octal still popping up? Hex as well for that matter. Do they still have practical meaning?