4 ms·

I think hexadecimal is better, it has the advantage of super easy conversion from/to binary, the most fundamental number system. We just need a good naming sch

I think hexadecimal is better, it has the advantage of super easy conversion from/to binary, the most fundamental number system. We just need a good naming scheme for counting in hex :)

iaw 8y ago
F-hundred and c-tee-five doesn't just roll off the tongue does it?
- thomastjeffery 8y ago
  I think it would be better to just use new words. Using decimal digits for another base gets a little ambiguous anyway.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - jobigoud 8y ago
    Using specific words is cultural. There are languages were in order to say a big number you just enumerate its digits.
    - yorwba 8y ago
      Such as Tongan: http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/tongan.html http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/tongan.html Do you know of another unrelated language that works similarly?
FroshKiller 8y ago
It's been posted before: http://www.bzarg.com/p/how-to-pronounce-hexadecimal/ http://www.bzarg.com/p/how-to-pronounce-hexadecimal/
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
jjnoakes 8y ago
> binary, the most fundamental number system I think base 1 is a little more fundamental than base 2, no?
- hervature 8y ago
  Mathematically speaking, base 1 doesn't make any sense. Using 1 as a radix yields something incoherent. But I think you mean simply making a mark for every unit (like how most people count inventory) which is definitely more fundamental in a different way.
  - jjnoakes 8y ago
    I mean 1 dec == 1 unit (1x1^0) 2 dec == 11 unit (1x1^0 + 1x1^1) 3 dec == 111 unit (1x1^0 + 1x1^1 + 1x1^2) etc. Just like the other bases, with "1" instead of "2" or "10". Well, maybe not "just like", the digit I have to use to represent each power of 1 is 1 and not 0, but I think that's a small concession.
    - gowld 8y ago
      That's not a "base". In base-n, the valid digits are 0..[n-1]. In your system, 1 = 10 = 100 = 1000, and 11 == 101 = 110, and 101 = 1+1 = 11. It's useless as a notation for arithmetic resembling like what bases are used for. In base 1, the only valid digit is 0, so the only valid number is unit.
      - jjnoakes 8y ago
        Right, I addressed that in my post...
    - hahahihi 8y ago
      writing ten like 1111111111 seems obvious enough, dividing by 11111 being 11 is alsof easy... but how fractions? Say 1 divided by 11111? I cant even imagine.
  - thomastjeffery 8y ago
schoen 8y ago
A number of people (well, maybe at least 0xF people) have made suggestions about this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pronounce+hex+digits https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pronounce+hex+digits
zeth___ 8y ago
The most efficient number system is ternary. If you go for balanced ternary you also get addition and subtraction for free, and multiplication is not much worse than for binary.

I think hexadecimal is better, it has the advantage of super easy conversion from/to binary, the most fundamental number system. We just need a good naming scheme for counting in hex :)

iaw 8y ago

F-hundred and c-tee-five doesn't just roll off the tongue does it?

thomastjeffery 8y ago
I think it would be better to just use new words. Using decimal digits for another base gets a little ambiguous anyway.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- jobigoud 8y ago
  Using specific words is cultural. There are languages were in order to say a big number you just enumerate its digits.
  - yorwba 8y ago
    Such as Tongan: http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/tongan.html http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/tongan.html Do you know of another unrelated language that works similarly?

FroshKiller 8y ago

It's been posted before: http://www.bzarg.com/p/how-to-pronounce-hexadecimal/ http://www.bzarg.com/p/how-to-pronounce-hexadecimal/

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

jjnoakes 8y ago

> binary, the most fundamental number system I think base 1 is a little more fundamental than base 2, no?

hervature 8y ago
Mathematically speaking, base 1 doesn't make any sense. Using 1 as a radix yields something incoherent. But I think you mean simply making a mark for every unit (like how most people count inventory) which is definitely more fundamental in a different way.
- jjnoakes 8y ago
  I mean 1 dec == 1 unit (1x1^0) 2 dec == 11 unit (1x1^0 + 1x1^1) 3 dec == 111 unit (1x1^0 + 1x1^1 + 1x1^2) etc. Just like the other bases, with "1" instead of "2" or "10". Well, maybe not "just like", the digit I have to use to represent each power of 1 is 1 and not 0, but I think that's a small concession.
  - gowld 8y ago
    That's not a "base". In base-n, the valid digits are 0..[n-1]. In your system, 1 = 10 = 100 = 1000, and 11 == 101 = 110, and 101 = 1+1 = 11. It's useless as a notation for arithmetic resembling like what bases are used for. In base 1, the only valid digit is 0, so the only valid number is unit.
    - jjnoakes 8y ago
      Right, I addressed that in my post...
  - hahahihi 8y ago
    writing ten like 1111111111 seems obvious enough, dividing by 11111 being 11 is alsof easy... but how fractions? Say 1 divided by 11111? I cant even imagine.
- thomastjeffery 8y ago

schoen 8y ago

A number of people (well, maybe at least 0xF people) have made suggestions about this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pronounce+hex+digits https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pronounce+hex+digits

zeth___ 8y ago

The most efficient number system is ternary. If you go for balanced ternary you also get addition and subtraction for free, and multiplication is not much worse than for binary.