Match a pattern in a stream of bits

1. What are the bit patterns?
2. What are bit patterns used for?

What are the bit patterns?

A bit pattern is simply 1s and 0s. Any variable is simply that. So is a pointer/reference. Skip over that explanation and chalk it up to a statement of the obvious.

What are bit patterns used for?

One of the commonest uses for a bit-pattern is to represent a number. We are used to writing numbers in base 10 Arabic notation. In this scheme, we use ten different unique symbols, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and use the position of the digit in the number to give it extra magnitude meaning.