Binary is the foundational number system used in digital electronics and computing. It operates on just two digits—0 and 1—which are known as bits (short for binary digits). Unlike the decimal system that uses ten digits (0–9), the binary system is base-2, meaning each position represents a power of two. Computers use binary because digital circuits have two distinct states—such as high/low voltage or on/off—which correspond naturally to 1 and 0. These simple bits can be grouped into larger units like bytes (8 bits) to represent more complex data such as numbers, letters, images, and even video. Binary is the language of computers, enabling everything from basic calculations to advanced artificial intelligence.