In order to make "letters" out of the binary number you would have to look up an
ascii table and then take your numerical value (in decimal) and match it up. The standard character set is 8 bits which provides pretty much everything that we need.
But if you're asking how to convert from binary here's how...
Note: Binary means base 2, a number range including only 0 and 1.
00001010 = 0 * 2^0 + 1 * 2^1 + 0 * 2^2 + 1 * 2^3 = 0 + 2 + 0 + 8 = 10.
Basically you start from the right counting at 0 moving left and incrementing the power each time. Then add them up. Or more generally said...
∑(n * 2^i) Starting at i = 0 going to the most significant set bit number (highest bit that is 1). Where n is the value of the bit.
Now going back is pretty much the reverse (divide and subtract). Note we use integer division, meaning ignore decimals and use remainders.
So going back from 10...
10/2 = 5 R 0
5/2 = 2 R 1
2/2 = 1 R 0
So we stop when the quotient reaches 1, then read the remainders backwards, after we put the quotient down first: 1010. And of course you can tack your 4 high bits on again to get 00001010.
Note: Some people like to use an upside down long division sign as it makes it easier to read, I don't have one here on my keyboard so that's why I didn't.
The procedure is the same for converting any base whether it be 8, 16, or 32.
