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JavaScript JavaScript Array Iteration Methods Array Manipulation Transform Array Items with map()

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,184 Points

The word "radix" refers to the number system of a value, and is how many values can be expressed in a single digit. What we normally think of as a number is radix 10. If you work with binary, that's radix 2.

A few examples of counting in different radixes might make it more clear:

// counting in radix 10 (also called "decimal"):
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 ...etc.
// counting in radix 2 (also called "binary"):
0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001 ...etc.
// counting in radix 16 (also called "hexidecimal"):
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12 ...etc.
// counting in radix 5 (not commonly used):
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22 ...etc

Note that the value of a number is relative to the radix. When we see "12" we think of that as a "dozen", but that's only true for decimal numbers (radix 10). In radix 16 what looks like "12" has a decimal value of 18, in radix 5 it would be the same as 7 decimal, and it would not be valid at all in radix 2 (binary), since the only valid digits in binary values are "0" and "1".