********************************** * PART 11: BITS, BYTES, & BINARY * ********************************** * Note: if you don't understand this, don't worry! You can still decode GG codes using only hexadecimal. Read on for more information! <11.1> Introduction----------------------------------------------------------- Binary is a base 2 number system. The only possible values for each place are the two digits 0 and 1. Binary is valuable because a series of electrical switches can display any binary value (where "1" [on] corresponds to the time when there is current flowing through the switch and "0" [off] corresponds to the time when no current flows. Counting in binary would go as follows: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, .... <11.2> Bits & Bytes----------------------------------------------------------- One binary digit is known as a "bit". A "bit" can have two possible states: 0 (low) or 1 (high). Each Game Genie code is actually composed of a 24-bit encoded memory address (e.g., 100011011001111100101011), and 8-bit encoded data (e.g., 11001001) -- don't worry about this for now; you'll understand it later. Eight bits are known as a "byte". A byte is also the amount of information that two hex digits (the first two digits of a Game Genie code) can store -- 256 different values. If two hex digits can store a byte, than each individual hex digit represents a 4-bit binary sequence. The digits of the Game Genie can be further broken down into their binary equivalents: <11.3> Numerical Chart: The Sequel-------------------------------------------- GG HEX DECIMAL BINARY -- --- ------- ------ D 0h 0 0000 F 1h 1 0001 4 2h 2 0010 7 3h 3 0011 0 4h 4 0100 9 5h 5 0101 1 6h 6 0110 5 7h 7 0111 6 8h 8 1000 B 9h 9 1001 C Ah 10 1010 8 Bh 11 1011 A Ch 12 1100 2 Dh 13 1101 3 Eh 14 1110 E Fh 15 1111