What Is Binary Code and How Does It Work?

First invented by Gottfried Leibniz in the 17th century, the binary number system became widely used once computers required a way to represent numbers using mechanical switches. What Is Binary Code? Binary is a base-2 number system representing numbers using a pattern of ones and zeroes. Early computer systems had mechanical switches that turned on to represent 1, and turned off to represent 0. By using switches in series, computers could represent numbers using binary code. Modern computers still use binary code in the form of digital ones and zeroes inside the CPU and RAM.A digital one or zero is simply an electrical signal that's either turned on or turned off inside of a hardware device like a CPU, which can hold and calculate many millions of binary numbers. Binary numbers consist of a series of eight "bits," which are known as a "byte." A bit is a single one or zero that makes up the 8 bit binary number. Using ASCII codes, binary numbers can also be translated into text characte...