What's a good numerical base?

[Thue]

I know that base 2 is nice for pointer math, divides/multiplies by 2^n, specifying IP/mac addresses, and character values. As I said, low-level programming. What else would it be good for?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Thue
I know that base 2 is nice for pointer math, divides/multiplies by 2^n, specifying IP/mac addresses, and character values. As I said, low-level programming. What else would it be good for?

Hex is used everywhere in computers. Even **** like %20 in a URL is hex...

Given how prevalent computers are in everything related to life, and given how clean hex is, it makes the most sense.

[Maniac]

who knows the aliens have quantum computers. No base-2 needed.

Go 12!

[Thue]

Originally posted by Asher

Hex is used everywhere in computers. Even **** like %20 in a URL is hex...

Yes, but it is only relevant to programmers - everything a user sees should be through enough abstraction that it doesn't matter.

So if everybody were a computer programmer then base 16, no contest. But few people are.

And I really like the ability to easily multiply by/divide by 3, which you can in base 12, but not in base 16. 3 people who want to split a bill 3 ways is a very common use case, also for non-programmers .

[Asher]

Originally posted by Thue


Yes, but it is only relevant to programmers - everything a user sees should be through enough abstraction that it doesn't matter.

So if everybody were a computer programmer then base 16, no contest. But few people are.

And I really like the ability to easily multiply by/divide by 3, which you can in base 12, but not in base 16. 3 people who want to split a bill 3 ways is a very common use case, also for non-programmers .

You can split a bill 3 ways without resorting to using base 12...

I'm not sure you understand the question.

[Thue]

But it is slightly easier to do without a calculator in a base which includes a factor 3.

[Asher]

Anyone who can't divide by 3 needs to be put out to pasture -- or at the very least, deported to Denmark.

[Q Classic]

Base 16 may make sense, but that doesn't mean biological organisms with different cultural leanings would have come up with it as their first, initial number system.

[Thue]

Originally posted by Asher
Anyone who can't divide by 3 needs to be put out to pasture -- or at the very least, deported to Denmark.

Let me give you an example - 5 is a factor in 10, so it is easier to divide by 5 than by fx 3. Observe 123/5:

123/5 = 100/5 + 20/5 + 3/5 = 20 + 4 + 0,6 = 24,6

123/3 = 100/3 + 20/3 + 3/3 = 33,33... + 6,66... + 1 = 40,99... = 41.

The reason why all the divisions by 5 terminate is because 5 is a factor in the base, 10. This makes division by those factors easier.

That is a reason why you want to have common factors in your base number.

And any programmer who is not smart enough to learn a base 2^n number system in addition to the number system in common use should be deported to Canada.

[Asher]

But with 12, "5" is no longer a common factor. Nor is 10.

You say it's a benefit then you're just changing the factors.

I'm asking for a paradigm shift, something you do not comprehend, being a silly Dane from Denmark in Europe.

[Thue]

Originally posted by Asher
But with 12, "5" is no longer a common factor. Nor is 10.

You say it's a benefit then you're just changing the factors.

I'm asking for a paradigm shift, something you do not comprehend, being a silly Dane from Denmark in Europe.

But with 12 you would have the factors 2,3,4,6 < 12. With 10 you have only 2,5 < 10.

And generally 3 is a much more useful factor than 5. The only reason why you are desperately clinging on to your tired old factor 5 and factor 10 is that you know from experience how easy they are to use in calculations. But the only reason why it is useful is because it is a the base is 10, not 12. If you were using base 12 you would love factor 3 even better than you love factor 5 now.

[Asher]

I do not understand your obsession with 3. It's not a common number?

You have a terrible argument. Common factors may make life easier for people without basic math skills, but in the age of digital transactions why does it matter anyway. People pay now by putting their card in proximity of a scanning device. How many common factors does that have?

Hex is the cleanest of the number systems for the digital age. Fact.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Well, the mushrooms aren't in the digital age quite yet.

[Thue]

Originally posted by Asher
Hex is the cleanest of the number systems for the digital age. Fact.

Non-programmers have no use for Hex. Fact .

[Asher]

Originally posted by Thue


Non-programmers have no use for Hex. Fact .

Fact: Thue is a European and doesn't understand that people in North American can divide by 3 without resorting to a new number system.