|  | 1.3 | Binary Numbers
| 1.3.1 | Binary numbers represent alphanumeric data

In order to run software applications, computers must translate software code into binary form and then must translate it from binary form into a language you can understand. Computers operate with electronic switches that are either "on" or "off", corresponding to 1 or 0.

Computers don't think in the decimal number system as humans do, because electronic devices are structured in such a way that binary numbering is natural – computers have to translate in order to use decimal numbering. Computers can only understand and process data that is in a binary format, which is represented by 0s and 1s. These 0s and 1s represent the two possible states of an electronic component and are referred to as binary digits (bits).

The binary number representation of many keyboard and control characters is shown in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) chart. ASCII is one of several character-encoding systems used in LANs.