Python bin()

Python bin() function converts an integer into its binary representation. This means it expresses the number using only 0s and 1s, which is how computers fundamentally store and process data. It’s handy when working with the underlying binary structure of numbers.

`bin()` Syntax

binary_string = bin(integer)

binary_string: Variable to store the resulting binary string.
bin(): Built-in Python function for converting to binary.
integer: Integer you want to convert to its binary form.

Example 1: Python `bin()`

decimal_num = 10
binary_repr = bin(decimal_num)
print(binary_repr)

Code Explanation

Line 1: Assigns the decimal number 10 to the decimal_num variable.
Line 2: Calls the bin() function to convert the decimal number to its binary equivalent and stores it in the binary_repr variable.
Line 3: Prints the binary representation, which includes the prefix ‘0b’ to indicate it’s a binary number

Output

0b1010

Example 2: Python `bin()` with Negative Number

decimal_num = -5
binary_repr = bin(decimal_num)
print(binary_repr)

Code Explanation

Line 1: Assigns the negative decimal number -5 to the decimal_num variable
Line 2: bin() handles negative numbers using two’s complement representation
Line 3: Prints the binary representation, including the ‘-‘ sign and the ‘0b’ prefix

Output

-0b101

Example 3: Python `bin()` with Large Number

decimal_num = 1024
binary_repr = bin(decimal_num)
print(binary_repr)

Code Explanation

Line 1: Assigns a larger decimal number to the variable
Line 2: bin() can handle numbers of any size, producing the corresponding binary string
Line 3: Prints the binary representation

Output

0b10000000000

Example 4: Python `bin()` with Zero

decimal_num = 0
binary_repr = bin(decimal_num)
print(binary_repr)

Code Explanation

Line 1: Assigns the value 0 to the variable
Line 2: bin() correctly converts 0 to its binary form
Line 3: Prints the binary representation

Output

0b0

Example 5: Python `bin()` with Non-Integer Class

class CustomNumber:
    def __init__(self, value):
        self.value = value

    def __index__(self):
        return self.value

custom_num = CustomNumber(12)
binary_num = bin(custom_num)
print(binary_num)

Code Explanation

Line 1: Defines a custom class to represent numbers.
Line 2: Initializes an instance with a given value.
Line 5: Implements the special __index__ method, which allows the bin() function to get an integer representation from the custom object.
Line 8: Creates an instance of CustomNumber with the value 12.
Line 9: bin() uses the __index__ method to get the integer value and converts it to binary.
Line 10: Prints the binary representation.

Output

0b1100

Example 6: Python `bin()` with `index()` for Non-Integer Class

class CustomNumber:
    # ... (same as previous example)

custom_num = CustomNumber(12)
integer_value = custom_num.__index__()  # Get the integer value directly
print(integer_value)

Code Explanation

Line 4: Same as before.
Line 5: Explicitly calls the __index__ method to demonstrate how bin() gets the integer representation.
Line 6: Prints the integer value returned by __index__.

Output