CompTIA Tech+ (FC0-U71)IT Concepts and TerminologyEasy
A system administrator is analyzing log files and encounters an error code represented as 0x000000FF. This notation indicates which base number system?
- ADecimal
- BHexadecimal
- COctal
- DBinary
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Hexadecimal
The prefix '0x' is a common convention in programming and computing to denote that the following digits represent a hexadecimal number.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Decimal numbers have no special prefix and use digits 0-9.
- C. Octal numbers are sometimes prefixed with '0' (a single zero), and use digits 0-7.
- D. Binary numbers are typically prefixed with '0b' or no prefix if context makes it clear, and consist only of 0s and 1s.
Hexadecimal Notation
A base-16 number system commonly used in computing, often prefixed with '0x' to distinguish it from decimal.
- Uses digits 0-9 and letters A-F to represent values 10-15.
- Each hexadecimal digit corresponds to four binary bits.
- Provides a more compact representation of binary data than decimal or binary itself.
Memory trick: Prefixes Point to the Base!