Eloquent JavaScript, 4th Edition

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VALUES, TYPES, AND OPERATORS

In the computer’s world, there is only data. You can read data, modify data, create new data—but that which isn’t data cannot be mentioned. All this data is stored as long sequences of bits and is thus fundamentally alike.

Bits are any kind of two-valued things, usually described as zeros and ones. Inside the computer, they take forms such as a high or low electrical charge, a strong or weak signal, or a shiny or dull spot on the surface of a CD. Any piece of discrete information can be reduced to a sequence of zeros and ones and thus represented in bits.

For example, we can express the number 13 in bits. This works the same way as a decimal number, but instead of 10 different digits, we have only 2, and the weight ...