Hex editing – HexEdit – This orginally named application allows hex-editing of files on OSX
Hex calculating – PCalc – Used for converting Decimal, Octet and Binary to Hex and visa-versa
Working in hexadecimal is common-place when dealing with any type of system, regardless of it’s maker. Commonly seen by most in the reference of settings colours for browser interpretation, hexadecimal represents the readable format of binary.
A simple explanation can be shown with using the HTML colour schema:
#FFFFFF = White will be shown on screen.
#000000 = Black will be shown on screen.
#FFFFFF is actually a representation of the RGB (Red Green Blue) settings of your screen. As each pixel on your screen is made from a Red Green and Blue element. The hex code is actuall like so: Red = FF, Green = FF, Blue = FF totalling FFFFFF.
FF is actually the equivilent of 255, while 0F is equal to 15. Reason being, hex is base 16, while decimal is base 10:
Decimal Hex 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 A 11 B 12 C 13 D 14 E 15 F
So like decimal (base-ten), hexadecimal (base-sixteen) is calculated along the same principals.
Decimal: 12 = 1×10’s 2×1’s or 21 = 2×10’s 1×1’s
Hex: B3 = 11×16 3×1 or FF = 15×16 15×1
Why does hexadecimal exist, so reading 1011011000101110 becomes a lot easier.