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This is how we should read hexadecimal (asp.net)
8 points by yread on March 22, 2013 | hide | past | favorite | 8 comments


> 0x4B2AC0AA is forty-eleven hexamillion, two hexahundred and tenty-twelve hexathousand and tenty-ten

Umm that's cool I suppose.

Mainly when I'm reading hex I'm looking for near-null, is it heap, stack or image memory? Those things are useful for me to be able to quickly distinguish and everything else is "calc.exe", "bc" or order-of-magnitude calculations based on number of bits. I do spend a lot of time reading hex, but I'm probably a numeric philistine.


I think it could be read with more sensible qualifiers:

0x4B2AC0AA is forty-eleven giga, twenty-ten mega, twelvety kilo and tenty-ten.

Of course one kilo != 1024, but you get the idea


That makes very little sense. You know why, because you are taking a base-16 system and trying to make it work with a base-10 way of saying numbers.

The best way to read hex is by reading the letters and numbers in order without any added complexity.


Even better, let's make use of the French number system. http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number/french.html

The number before hundred is quadtwenty tenty nine!


Fourscore and nineteen, actually.

Well, not literally actually. Figuratively actually, like all good translations.


Fourscore is a better fit, true. I'd disagree with nineteen though. French has fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, but then switches to a more awkward construction for 17-19. Fourscore and sixteen transitions to fourscore and ten and seven / fourscore and tenty seven.

(Note: Not saying it's awkward in an absolute sense, but in the context of a base-twenty system that method of constructing 17-19 fits badly)


Alternate words for hex ten eleven twelve etc:

able baker charlie dog easy fox

dek el zen tris cat kink

http://ask.slashdot.org/story/03/04/01/0112232/eleventy-what


An old TRS-80 assembly programming book I had suggested that an early conference of computer experts suggested that the last six digits be named actinium, barium, curium, dysprosium, erbium, and fermium until "cooler heads prevailed".




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