Pattern Names

Hexadecimal Names
nibble	pattern name	nibble	pattern name
0000	0	1000	8
0001	1	1001	9
0010	2	1010	A
0011	3	1011	B
0100	4	1100	C
0101	5	1101	D
0110	6	1110	E
0111	7	1111	F

Consider the following pattern:

0010100010101010

It is not easy to work with. It is convenient to break bit patterns into 4-bit groups (called nibbles):    

0010 1000 1010 1010

There are 16 (= 2⁴ ) possible patterns in a nibble; each pattern has a name, as seen in the table.

You might be tempted to call those 4-bit patterns "binary numbers". Resist that temptation. The bit patterns in computer main memory are used for very many purposes; representing integers is just one of them. The fundamental concept is "bit patterns". Don't confuse this concept with one of its many uses: "representing numbers".

The above bit pattern can be written using the pattern names:

0010 1000 1010 1100  = 28AC

Bits are grouped into nibbles starting at the right. Then each nibble is named. This method of giving names to patterns is called hexadecimal.