How exactly does binary code work? - José Américo N L F de Freitas

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Imagine trying to use words to describe every scene in a film,

想像一下，試圖用文字來描述 一部電影中的每一個場景、

every note in your favorite song,

你最愛的歌曲中的每一個音符，

or every street in your town.

或是你住的小鎮上的每一條街道。

Now imagine trying to do it using only the numbers 1 and 0.

現在，想像一下只用 1 和 0 這兩個數字來做這件事。

Every time you use the Internet to watch a movie,

每當你用網路看一部電影、

listen to music,

聽一首歌曲，

or check directions,

或查看方向時，

that’s exactly what your device is doing,

你的裝置就在做這件事，

using the language of binary code.

用二元編碼的語言來做這件事。

Computers use binary because it's a reliable way of storing data.

電腦會用二進位，是因為 用這種方式儲存資料很可靠。

For example, a computer's main memory is made of transistors

比如，電腦的主要記憶體 是由電晶體構成的，

that switch between either high or low voltage levels,

電晶體在高電壓和低電壓之間切換，

such as 5 volts and 0 volts.

比如 5 伏特和 0 伏特。

Voltages sometimes oscillate, but since there are only two options,

電壓有時會不穩， 但因為只有兩個選項，

a value of 1 volt would still be read as "low."

1 伏特仍然會被視為是「低電壓」。

That reading is done by the computer’s processor,

電腦的處理器讀取數值，

which uses the transistors’ states to control other computer devices

根據電晶體的狀態和軟體指令

來控制電腦的其他裝置。

according to software instructions.

The genius of this system is that a given binary sequence

這個系統的傑出之處

是給定的二進制序列 不被這台電腦自己預先訂定，

doesn't have a pre-determined meaning on its own.

Instead, each type of data is encoded in binary

而是另有二進制規則

編碼各種類型的數據。

according to a separate set of rules.

Let’s take numbers.

咱們用數字為例。

In normal decimal notation,

一般的十進制

each digit is multiplied by 10 raised to the value of its position,

從最右邊零的次方開始，

每個數字乘以 10， 向左直到其位置為止。

starting from zero on the right.

So 84 in decimal form is 4x10⁰ + 8x10¹.

所以十進位的 84 就是 4x10⁰ + 8x10¹。

Binary number notation works similarly,

二進位的表示方式也類似。

but with each position based on 2 raised to some power.

只是每個位置的數字 要乘以 2 的次方。

So 84 would be written as follows:

所以 84 會寫成這樣：

Meanwhile, letters are interpreted based on standard rules like UTF-8,

同時，字母則是根據像 UTF-8 這樣的標準規則來詮釋，

which assigns each character to a specific group of 8-digit binary strings.

UTF-8 會把每一個字母對應到 一組特定的 8 位數二進位字串，

In this case, 01010100 corresponds to the letter T.

在這個例子中，01010100 對應的是字母 T。

So, how can you know whether a given instance of this sequence

那麼，看到這個序列時，

is supposed to mean T or 84?

怎知它指的是 T 還是 84？

Well, you can’t from seeing the string alone

光看序列本身是看不出來的，

– just as you can’t tell what the sound "da" means from hearing it in isolation.

就像單獨聽到一個音「噠」， 無法判斷它是什麼意思。

You need context to tell whether you're hearing Russian, Spanish, or English.

需要有情境來告訴你，這個音是 俄文、西班牙文，或英文。

And you need similar context

你也需要類似的情境

to tell whether you’re looking at binary numbers or binary text.

來告訴你你現在看到的 是二進位的數字或二進位的文字。

Binary code is also used for far more complex types of data.

許多更複雜的資料也採用二元編碼。

Each frame of this video, for instance,

比如，這支影片的每一個畫格

is made of hundreds of thousands of pixels.

都是由數十萬個像素所組成。

In color images,

在彩色圖像中，

every pixel is represented by three binary sequences

每一個像素會用 三個二進位序列來表示，

that correspond to the primary colors.

它們對應到的就是三原色。

Each sequence encodes a number

每個序列是一個數字的編碼，

that determines the intensity of that particular color.

決定了那個顏色的強度。

Then, a video driver program transmits this information

接著，影片驅動程式 會將這些資訊傳送出去，

to the millions of liquid crystals in your screen

傳給螢幕上數百萬個液晶體，

to make all the different hues you see now.

來產生出各位現在看到的不同色彩。

The sound in this video is also stored in binary,

這支影片的聲音 也以二進位的方式儲存，

with the help of a technique called pulse code modulation.

用的是一種叫做 「脈衝編碼調變」的技術。

Continuous sound waves are digitized

將連續聲波數位化的方式

by taking "snapshots" of their amplitudes every few milliseconds.

每幾毫秒就「截取」一次 這些聲波的振幅。

These are recorded as numbers in the form of binary strings,

這些資訊會以二進位字串的 數字形式記錄下來，

with as many as 44,000 for every second of sound.

每秒的聲音有 44,000 個數字。

When they’re read by your computer’s audio software,

當電腦的影音軟體讀取這些資料時，

the numbers determine how quickly the coils in your speakers should vibrate

這些數字就決定 喇叭的音圈要震動得多快，

to create sounds of different frequencies.

來創造出不同頻率的聲音。

All of this requires billions and billions of bits.

這些都需要數以億計的位元。

But that amount can be reduced through clever compression formats.

但有了聰明的壓縮格式就能夠減量。

For example, if a picture has 30 adjacent pixels of green space,

比如，如果一張圖片 有 30 個相鄰的綠色像素，

they can be recorded as "30 green" instead of coding each pixel separately -

可以被記錄成「30 個綠色像素」， 而不是把每個像素分開記錄——

a process known as run-length encoding.

這個過程就是熟知的游程編碼。

These compressed formats are themselves written in binary code.

這些壓縮格式本身 也是用二進位寫成的。

So is binary the end-all-be-all of computing?

二進位制是最棒的計算編碼嗎？

Not necessarily.

不見得。

There’s been research into ternary computers,

已經有人在研究三位元電腦，

with circuits in three possible states,

那電路會有三種可能的狀態；

and even quantum computers,

甚至還有四進位的電腦，

whose circuits can be in multiple states simultaneously.

它的電路可以同時具有多個狀態。

But so far, none of these has provided

但截至目前為止 在資料的儲存和傳輸上，

as much physical stability for data storage and transmission.

這些發明尚未能 提供夠高的物理穩定性。

So for now, everything you see,

所以到目前為止

你在螢幕上看見、

hear,

and read through your screen

聽見、讀到的一切，

comes to you as the result of a simple "true" or "false" choice,

都是以數十億個簡單 「是非題」的結果傳給你的。

made billions of times over.