Binary numbers: introduction
This section forms a brief introduction to the binary number-system.
Binary numbers are closely linked to digital logic, because arithmetic on binary numbers can easily be implemented using an array of logic-gates.
This section doesn't go into binary arithmetic, since there's not much arithmetic going on in the Qibec CPU except "increment by one" to calculate the next program-address.
Decimal digits and numbers
Most everyday arithmetic (e.g. when buying goods in a store) makes use of the decimal number-system.
A decimal number consists of decimal digits. A decimal digit is a symbol from "0" up to and including "9". The reason for there being exactly 10 digits, is probably that humans have 10 fingers.
The value of a decimal number can be much higher than 10 (e.g. 15382), but the value of a digit is 9, at most.
Decimal digits form decimal numbers according to "decimal positional notation". This means that in a number, the position of a digit determines its magnitude.
As an example, consider the decimal number "345" (three-hundred and forty-five). The meaning, or value, of this number is:
345(dec) = 3 x hundred + 4 x ten + 5 x one
or rather:
345(dec) = 3 x 10^2 + 4 x 10^1 + 5 x 10^0
(The caret stands for "to the power of". The "dec" suffix is added to make it clear this is a decimal number - or in other words, make it clear how to interpret this number.)
As can be seen, the magnitude (or numeric weight) of a digit depends on its position: the further a digit is positioned to the left, the more it weighs.
This is very convenient: big numbers can be formed using a small set of symbols (0..9).
Bits and binary numbers
The decimal number-system is also called "base-10", because when going 1 digit to the left in a decimal number, its magnitude increases by a factor 10.
As stated before, this number "10" is arbitrary - if humans had had 12 fingers, we would probably be using a base-12 number-system.
The binary number-system narrows down the set of possible symbols from 10 to 2.
(The value of this binary symbol can only be "0" or "1". Such a binary symbol/digit is called a "bit" - literally "Binary digIT".)
Therefore, the binary number-system is a base-2 system. Like the decimal number-system, the position of a bit in a binary number determines its magnitude or weight:
1011(bin) = 1 x 2^3 + 0 x 2^2 + 1 x 2^1 + 1 x 2^0
or, in words:
1011(bin) = 1 x eight + 0 x four + 1 x two + 1 x one
The value of this binary number is therefore eleven.
When mixing binary and decimal numbers, it becomes important to explicitly state the number-system that is to be used.
For example:
110(bin) = 1 x four + 1 x two + 0 x one = six
but:
110(dec) = 1 x hundred + 1 x ten + 0 x one = hundred-ten
Obviously, a big difference. Sometimes, a "b" suffix is used for binary numbers, e.g. "110b".
Relevance of binary numbers to computing
For a few reasons, binary numbers and binary/digital arithmetic lend themselves better to electrical implementations than do decimal numbers.
For one, the water- and electrical circuits given earlier make use of only 2 pressure-/voltage-states: either high or low.
From a practical point, this is convenient, because it presents less ambiguity between values.
(Compare this to a model with e.g. 10 different pressure-levels. More advanced components would have to be used to distinguish levels, and there's a risk of pressure/voltage dropping too much when traveling in a long pipe/wire.)
Circuits to perform binary arithmetic can be implemented one bit at a time, by using sub-circuits. For example, adding 2 binary numbers of 10 bits each can be done by 10 cascaded subcircuits, each adding 2 bits at a certain position.
Without going into detail, this method of addition is very similar to how most people perform addition: write the numbers to be added under each other, then, for each digit-position from right to left, add the digts, "carrying" a digit to the left if a sum exceeds 9.
carried : 1 1111 number A : 44 0101100 number B : 28 0011100 ---- +(dec) --------- +(bin) result : 72 1001000
Using the same method, the only difference between adding decimal and binary numbers is that when using binary numbers, a digit has to be carried to the left if a result exceeds 1 instead of 9.
Thus, by using many simple subcircuits together, binary arithmetic can be implemented - addition just being an example.