Have you ever wondered what is common between ancient people, modern humans and computers?Despite the differences, the total still there.The cave paintings of primitive man, the records of our contemporaries and binary code in computers - all ways of presenting information, or, more precisely, only some of their species.Now that computers have become part of everyday life of society, everyone, to keep pace with the times, it is necessary to understand at least the basic terms and concepts.
Since its inception computer systems several generations: first it was the mechanical counting machine, tube model, and then, finally, the semiconductor electronic varieties.What is interesting, since ancient times, when it was the beginning of computing, the basic principles of coding of the data remained unchanged.In other words, the presentation of information in the computer is the same as in the mechanical devices.Of course, we are talking about principles, not methods of implementation.Everyone knows that the presentation of information in a computer is the binary nature.This was told at the first science lessons at school.What lies behind the term "binary calculus"?
Let's count to ten: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 10.In this series of ten digits, with itself "10" - it is absent, as it consists of two simpler "1" and "0".Presentation of information in the computer otherwise.It uses only the first two numbers, not just their image, and electric shocks: the transistor, this "brick" of modern electronic circuits, may have two positions - locked and open.If his base blocking voltage is applied (there is a discharge, logical unit), the item does not conduct current, and vice versa.Of course, in practice, the provision of information in the computer is realized by more complex mechanisms of "1" can mean both the presence and absence of a signal.And last not only controls the state of a single transistor and generates a logic operation "AND - OR."
logical "0" and "1" are called bits (binary digit - binary digit, figure).A group of eight (not ten!) Bits is a byte.Combining their sequence can encode any character.Therefore, byte - this is the smallest unit of information.In turn, changing the order of bytes can be encoded (represented in digital form) with any information.This encoding is performed as separate devices, and computer programs.For example, when we say "skype" through a microphone, analog electrical signal (wave) is converted to a sound card into a stream of logical ones and zeros, which are passed to the interlocutor, where the inverse transformation - into a wave is sent to the sound source.Similarly, pressing any button on the keyboard, the user tells the desired binary code, although for convenience, the screen displays the desired character.
way of presenting information in a computer, as already mentioned, allows to encode all.For example, to digitize the image in the following solution: as any picture can be represented as a set of points, each of which is characterized by the coordinates on the plane, brightness, color, enough to turn all this data into a computer can understand the sequence of ones and zeros.Next to view a copy of the email on the screen the program sends the information to the output device at each point, and in accordance with it built a picture.
advantage of the binary numbering system to the other is its simplicity and convenience of "tying" the management of electronic keys.Partly it was the main reason for its use in modern computer systems.
