Adding binary strings together JavaScript

The problem is stating that we have to add two binary strings. Binary strings are a sequence of bytes. To add them in JavaScript, we will first convert them to decimal and calculate the sum. After adding those decimal numbers, we will convert it again into binary strings and print the output.

What are Binary Strings?

Binary numbers or binary strings are sequences of bytes in base 2. It is basically a combination of 0 and 1 to represent any number. Binary addition is one of the fundamental operations in computer science and works similarly to decimal addition, but with base 2.

Here are the basic rules for adding binary numbers:

Algorithm

Step 1: Define a function with two binary string parameters.

Step 2: Convert both binary strings to decimal using parseInt() with radix 2.

Step 3: Add the decimal numbers together.

Step 4: Convert the sum back to binary using toString(2).

Step 5: Return the binary result.

Implementation

// Define a function to calculate sum of binary strings
function addBinaryStrings(binary1, binary2) {
    // Convert binary strings to decimal numbers
    const num1 = parseInt(binary1, 2);
    const num2 = parseInt(binary2, 2);
    
    // Add decimal numbers together
    const sum = num1 + num2;
    
    // Convert back to binary string
    const binarySum = sum.toString(2);
    
    return binarySum;
}

// Test with examples
console.log("Adding '1011' + '1101':");
console.log(addBinaryStrings('1011', '1101'));

console.log("\nAdding '0111' + '1001':");
console.log(addBinaryStrings('0111', '1001'));

console.log("\nAdding '1111' + '1':");
console.log(addBinaryStrings('1111', '1'));

Adding '1011' + '1101':
11000

Adding '0111' + '1001':
10000

Adding '1111' + '1':
10000

Key Methods Explained

The parseInt() method converts strings to integers. When passed with radix 2, it interprets the string as a binary number and converts it to decimal.

The toString(2) method converts a decimal number back to its binary representation as a string.

// Demonstrating the conversion methods
const binaryStr = "1011";
const decimal = parseInt(binaryStr, 2);
console.log(`Binary ${binaryStr} = Decimal ${decimal}`);

const backToBinary = decimal.toString(2);
console.log(`Decimal ${decimal} = Binary ${backToBinary}`);

Binary 1011 = Decimal 11
Decimal 11 = Binary 1011

Time Complexity

The time complexity of this algorithm is O(n), where n is the length of the longer binary string. Both parseInt() and toString() operations depend on the length of the strings they process.

Conclusion

Adding binary strings in JavaScript is efficiently accomplished by converting them to decimal, performing addition, and converting back to binary. This approach leverages JavaScript's built-in parseInt() and toString() methods for clean, readable code.