有时名称和术语是非常可互换的，每个人都明白什么是指没有混乱，但有时事情不是那么清楚，留给你更多的问题，而不是答案。今天的超级用户问答有助于澄清困惑读者的事情。

今天的问答环节是由SuperUser提供的，SuperUser是Stack Exchange的一个分支，是一个由社区驱动的问答网站分组。

十六进制编辑器屏幕截图由rwxrwx（维基百科）提供。

问题

超级用户读者Joseph A.想知道为什么十六进制编辑器被称为二进制编辑器：

Hex and binary are two different bases. Hex, as I understand it, is simply an “easier to use” version of binary and more convenient. However, I hear quite often that hex editors are binary editors. If you actually search for “binary editors” on Google, you get hex editors. Why is that? What is the connection?

为什么十六进制编辑器被称为二进制编辑器？

答案

超级用户贡献者Steven和BarryTheHatchet为我们提供了答案。首先，史蒂文：

A binary editor edits a binary file. [Binary File – Wikipedia]

• A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. […] Binary files are usually thought of as being a sequence of bytes, which means the binary digits (bits) are grouped in eights. Binary files typically contain bytes that are intended to be interpreted as something other than text characters.

A hex editor is a type of binary editor in which binary data is represented in hexadecimal form. [Hex Editor – Wikipedia]

• A hex editor (or binary file editor or byte editor) is a type of computer program that allows for manipulation of the fundamental binary data that c***titutes a computer file. The name “hex” comes from “hexadecimal”, a standard numerical format for representing binary data.

接着是BarryTheHatchet的回答：

Terminology is hard and different people have all sorts of different names for things.

In this instance, it appears that the “hex” in “hex editor” refers to the conventional human-readable representation of each byte’s value, whereas the “binary” in “binary editor” refers to the notion that you are indeed editing the file at the byte level (computers store bytes in binary) without c***ideration for higher-level text encoding and the like. Recall that files not readily representable in higher-level text form are called “binary files” or “binaries” for the same reason.

Neither is technically incorrect, they just come at the naming problem from different angles. On a personal note, though, I would tend to agree that “binary editor” is confusing overall.

有什么要补充的解释吗？在评论中发出声音。想从其他精通技术的Stack Exchange用户那里了解更多答案吗？在这里查看完整的讨论主题。