Numbers
Bits are just bits (no inherent meaning) — conventions define relationship between bits and numbers
Binary numbers (base 2) 0000 0001 0010 0011 0100 0101 0110 0111 1000 1001... decimal: 0...2n-1
Of course it gets more complicated: numbers are finite (overflow) fractions and real numbers negative numbers e.g., no MIPS subi instruction; addi can add a negative number)
How do we represent negative numbers? i.e., which bit patterns will represent which numbers?