MySQL in a Nutshell

Name

BIN( )

Synopsis

BIN(number)

This function returns a binary number for a given integer. It returns NULL if the string is NULL.

SELECT BIN(1), BIN(2), BIN(3);
+--------+--------+--------+
| BIN(1) | BIN(2) | BIN(3) |
+--------+--------+--------+
| 1      | 10     | 11     |
+--------+--------+--------+

For the number 1 in a base 10 system, the first position in a binary system is on or 1. For the number 2, the first position from the right is off and the second is on. For 3, the first and the second positions are on.