How To Convert Numbers To Binary In Python

Computers rely on binary digits, or bits, to process and store data. Binary numbers are used to represent numerical values in computer systems. Python offers a simple way to convert decimal numbers to binary format using the built-in function, bin().

When given an integer argument, the bin() function returns a string that represents the binary equivalent of the number. The resulting string is prefixed with ‘0b’ to indicate that it is a binary number. This skill is essential for programmers who work with low-level programming, networking, encryption, and computer graphics.

Understanding binary conversion is also valuable for comprehending how computers handle and manipulate data.

Why conversion of numbers to binary in Python is important

Here are a few reasons to convert number to binary in Python:

• Binary representation is a core concept in computer science and digital electronics.
• Converting numbers to binary is essential for various programming tasks such as encryption, encoding, and network communication.
• Binary representation aids in understanding how computers store and manipulate data.
• Python’s built-in ‘bin()’ function simplifies converting decimal numbers to binary, making it a valuable tool for developers.
• Binary representation is also utilized in computer graphics to represent pixel values in images.

Approaches for converting number to binary in Python

1. Using the built-in ‘bin()’ function

2. Using the string format method

3. Using the ‘format()’ method with the ‘#’ flag

4. Using bit manipulation operators

Approach 1: Using the built-in ‘bin()’ function

The built-in Python function ‘bin()’ is used to convert a given integer number to its corresponding binary string representation. The binary representation consists of a prefix ‘0b’ followed by the binary digits 0 and 1.

CODE:

# Assign integer value 42 to variable 'number'
number = 42

# Convert the integer 'number' to its binary representation using the built-in 'bin()' function
binary = bin(number)

# Print the binary representation
print(binary)

OUTPUT:

0b101010

Explanation:

• We first define the integer number ‘42’.
• Then, we use the ‘bin()’ function to convert the integer to its corresponding binary string representation.
• The binary representation of ‘42’ is ‘101010’.
• The ‘bin()’ function returns a string with a prefix ‘0b’, which indicates that the string is a binary representation.
• We then print the binary representation of the integer using the ‘print()’ function.

Approach 2: Using the string format method

Python’s string format method can also be used to convert a given integer number to its corresponding binary string representation. This method involves using the format specifier ‘{0:b}’ within a string, where ‘0’ represents the index of the argument passed to the ‘format()’ method and ‘b’ indicates that the argument should be converted to a binary string.

CODE:

# Assign integer value 42 to variable 'number'
number = 42

# Use the 'format()' method to convert the integer 'number' to its binary representation
binary = "{0:b}".format(number)

# Print the binary representation
print(binary)

OUTPUT:

101010

Explanation:

• We first define the integer number ‘42’.
• We use the ‘format()’ method on the string “{0:b}” to convert ‘number’ to its binary representation.
• The format specifier ‘{0:b}’ indicates that the first argument passed to ‘format()’ should be converted to a binary string.
• The binary representation of ‘42’ is ‘101010’.
• The result of the format operation is assigned to a variable called ‘binary’.
• We then print the binary representation of the integer using the ‘print()’ function.

Approach 3: Using the ‘format()’ method with the ‘#’ flag

Python’s ‘format()’ method can also be used to convert a given integer number to its corresponding binary string representation using the ‘#’ flag. The ‘#’ flag adds a prefix ‘0b’ to the binary representation to indicate that it is a binary value.

CODE:

# Assign integer value 42 to variable 'number'
number = 42

# Use the 'format()' method to convert the integer 'number' to its binary representation
binary = format(number, '#b')

# Print the binary representation
print(binary)

OUTPUT:

0b101010

Explanation:

• We first define the integer number ‘42’.
• We use the ‘format()’ method with the ‘#b’ specifier to convert ‘number’ to its binary representation and add a prefix ‘0b’ to indicate that it is a binary value.
• The binary representation of ‘42’ is ‘101010’.
• The result of the ‘format()’ operation is assigned to a variable called ‘binary’.
• We then print the binary representation of the integer using the ‘print()’ function.

Note: The ‘#’ flag can also be used with other number systems like octal (‘#o’) and hexadecimal (‘#x’).

Approach 4: Using bit manipulation operators

Python’s bit manipulation operators can also be used to convert a given integer number to its corresponding binary string representation. The approach involves iterating over the bits of the integer and using bitwise operators to extract the binary digits.

CODE:

# Assign integer value 42 to variable 'number'
number = 42

# Initialize an empty string
binary = ''

# Use a 'while' loop to extract the binary digits of the integer
while number > 0:
    # Use the modulus operator '%' to extract the least significant bit of the integer
    binary = str(number % 2) + binary
    
    # Use the right shift operator '>>' to shift the bits of the integer one position to the right
    number >>= 1

# Print the binary representation
print(binary)

OUTPUT:

101010

Explanation:

• We first define the integer number ‘42’.
• We use a ‘while’ loop to extract the binary digits of the integer. The loop runs until the integer becomes zero.
• In each iteration of the loop, we use the modulus operator ‘%’ to extract the least significant bit of the integer (i.e., the remainder when the integer is divided by 2).
• We convert the extracted bit to a string using the ‘str()’ function and append it to the left of the ‘binary’ string using the string concatenation operator ‘+’.
• We use the right shift operator ‘>>’ to shift the bits of the integer one position to the right. This is equivalent to dividing the integer by 2.
• We repeat the above steps until the integer becomes zero.
• The resulting ‘binary’ string represents the binary representation of the original integer.
• We then print the binary representation of the integer using the ‘print()’ function.

Best Approach for converting number to binary in python

The built-in ‘bin()’ function is the simplest and easiest approach to convert a number to binary in Python.

• It is the most efficient method as it is implemented in C and optimized for speed.
• The ‘bin()’ function leverages built-in functions of Python, making it a Pythonic way to do the conversion.
• Compared to other approaches involving bit manipulation or string formatting, the ‘bin()’ function is less error-prone.
• The resulting string from the ‘bin()’ function includes a ‘0b’ prefix, which conventionally indicates a binary value.
• For all practical purposes, the built-in ‘bin()’ function is the best approach for converting a number to its binary string representation in Python.

Sample Problem For Converting number to binary in python

Sample Problem 1(Using the built-in ‘bin()’ function):

Suppose you work for a company that manufactures electronic devices. The company is developing a new product that requires converting decimal numbers to binary numbers to perform some operations. You have been assigned the task of writing a Python program that takes an integer input from the user, converts it to its binary representation, and displays it on the screen.

Solution:

• The code first prompts the user to enter an integer using the ‘input()’ function and converts it to an integer using the ‘int()’ function.
• It then uses the built-in ‘bin()’ function to convert the integer to its binary representation and assigns the result to a variable called ‘binary’.
• Finally, it uses the ‘print()’ function to display the binary representation of the integer along with a message that indicates what the binary representation represents.

CODE:

# Prompt the user to enter an integer
number = int(input("Enter an integer: "))

# Convert the integer to its binary representation
binary = bin(number)

# Print a message that displays the binary representation
print(f"The binary representation of {number} is: {binary}")

OUTPUT:

Enter an integer: 42
The binary representation of 42 is: 0b101010

Sample Problem 2(Using the string format method)

Suppose you work for a bank that processes large amounts of financial data. One of the data processing tasks involves converting decimal numbers to binary numbers for certain calculations. You have been asked to write a Python program that takes an integer input from the user, converts it to its binary representation using the string format method, and displays it on the screen.

Solution:

• The code first prompts the user to enter an integer using the ‘input()’ function and converts it to an integer using the ‘int()’ function.
• It then uses the string format method to convert the integer to its binary representation and assigns the result to a variable called ‘binary’. The “{0:b}” format string specifies that the first argument (i.e., “number”) should be formatted as a binary string.
• Finally, it uses the ‘print()’ function to display the binary representation of the integer along with a message that indicates what the binary representation represents.

CODE:

# Prompt the user to enter an integer
number = int(input("Enter an integer: "))

# Convert the integer to its binary representation using the string format method
binary = "{0:b}".format(number)

# Print the output 
print(f"The binary representation of {number} is: {binary}")

OUTPUT:

Enter an integer: 42
The binary representation of 42 is: 101010

Sample Problem 3 (Using the ‘format()’ method with the ‘#’ flag)

Suppose you work for a telecommunications company that processes large amounts of data traffic. One of the data processing tasks involves converting decimal numbers to binary numbers for certain calculations.

You have been asked to write a Python program that takes an integer input from the user, converts it to its binary representation using the ‘format()’ method with the ‘#’ flag, and displays it on the screen.

Solution:

• The code first prompts the user to enter an integer using the ‘input()’ function and converts it to an integer using the ‘int()’ function.
• It then uses the ‘format()’ method to convert the integer to its binary representation with the ‘#b’ format specifier, which includes the ‘0b’ prefix to indicate that the number is in binary form. The result is assigned to a variable called ‘binary’.
• Finally, it uses the ‘print()’ function to display the binary representation of the integer along with a message that indicates what the binary representation represents.

CODE:

# Prompt the user to enter an integer
number = int(input("Enter an integer: "))

# Convert the integer to its binary representation using the format() method
binary = format(number, '#b')

# Print the output
print(f"The binary representation of {number} is: {binary}")

OUTPUT:

Enter an integer: 42
The binary representation of 42 is: 0b101010

Sample Problem 4 (Using bit manipulation operators)

Suppose you work for a financial institution that deals with a large number of transactions every day. One of the financial calculations involves converting decimal numbers to binary numbers to perform bitwise operations. You have been asked to write a Python program that takes an integer input from the user, converts it to its binary representation using bit manipulation operators, and displays it on the screen.

Solution:

• It initializes an empty string called ‘binary’ that will store the binary representation of the integer.
• It then loops through each bit of the integer from left to right (most significant bit to least significant bit), using the range function with a step of -1.
• The bit value is extracted for each bit by performing a bitwise AND operation with the number 1 after shifting each bit to its least significant place using a bitwise shift operation on the integer.
• It appends the binary representation of the bit (either 0 or 1) to the ‘binary’ string using string concatenation.
• Finally, it uses the ‘print()’ function to display the binary representation of the integer along with a message that indicates what the binary representation represents.

CODE:

# Prompt the user to enter an integer
number = int(input("Enter an integer: "))

# Create an empty string to store the binary representation
binary = ""

# Loop through each bit in the integer and add its binary representation to a string
for i in range(31, -1, -1):
    bit = (number >> i) & 1
    binary += str(bit)  # Add the binary representation of the bit to the string

# Print the binary representation of the integer
print(f"The binary representation of {number} is: {binary}")

OUTPUT:

Enter an integer: 42
The binary representation of 42 is: 00000000000000000000000000101010

Conclusion:

To convert a decimal number to binary in Python, several approaches are available. The ‘bin()’ function is the simplest and most straightforward method, while the string format method with the ‘b’ specifier offers more customization.

The ‘format()’ method with the ‘#b’ flag is another alternative for customization, and the bit manipulation approach is a more efficient way to extract binary digits. The choice of approach depends on the use case, including required customization, performance, and personal preferences.