\ Forth uses a system variable 'BASE' for number conversion \ HEX is a standard word to change the value of base to 16 \ DECIMAL is a standard word to change the value of base to 10 \ we can easily compile a word into the system to set 'BASE' to 2 : binary 2 base ! ; ok \ interactive console test with conversion and binary masking example hex 0FF binary . 11111111 ok decimal 679 binary . 1010100111 ok ok binary 11111111111 00000110000 and . 110000 ok decimal ok