Round 2: Bits and data

(A hexadecimal bit map that indicates the primes in the first 2048 odd integers.)

Learning objectives

In this round you will learn …

• … that data is a sequence of bits consisting of one or more fixed-length words

• … that the bits acquire meaning only through an agreed format for the data

  • … that numerical data is formatted according to the binary number system

  • … that textual data is formatted as a sequence of binary character codes (*)

• … to read and write bits using hexadecimal (=a shorthand for binary)

• … to operate on the bits of a word with word operations

(Material that is marked with one or more asterisks (*) is good-to-know, but not critical to solving the exercises or passing the course.)