Re: History of number systems [Was: Re: Happy Birthday]

[Robin Houston]

On Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 04:34:00PM +0100, Simon Wilcox wrote:
> I *should* know this I feel sure [1] but can anyone point to the design
> decision that led to us all using Hex ?

It's a convenient compaction of binary notation, as used by computers
everywhere. Each hex digit corresponds to a quartet of bits. (In order
to be a proper programmer, you have to be able to do the conversion
instantly in your head.)

 .robin.