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The binary in 'convert to binary' can refer to three main things. The positional number system, the binary representation in memory or 32bit bitstrings.

1. Number System

(123456).toString(2) will convert numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system negative numbers are written with minus signs just like in decimal.

2. Internal Representation

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

3. Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"

The binary in 'convert to binary' can refer to three main things. The positional number system, the binary representation in memory or 32bit bitstrings. (for 64bit bitstrings see Patrick Roberts' answer)

1. Number System

(123456).toString(2) will convert numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system negative numbers are written with minus signs just like in decimal.

2. Internal Representation

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

3. Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"

Number System

(123456).toString(2) will convert numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system negative numbers are written with minus signs just like in decimal.

Internal Representation

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"

The binary in 'convert to binary' can refer to three main things. The positional number system, the binary representation in memory or 32bit bitstrings.

1. Number System

(123456).toString(2) will convert numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system negative numbers are written with minus signs just like in decimal.

2. Internal Representation

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

3. Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"

Note- Doing (123456).toString(2) which some answers suggest, doesn't quite work 'cos it writes negative numbers with a minus sign rather than the actual bit string the computer uses to store the number, i.e. for negative numbers it doesn't even give binary, so that method doesn't really work for negative numbers. And it misses the leading 0 for positive numbers. Also, it converts numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system just like in decimal.

Further Note- The >>> method works great for negative numbers, and almost works for positive numbers, but in 2s complement, positive numbers should start with a 0, and the >>> misses it out, one would have to prepend it on. The >>> solution is good so long as you are aware of that limitation.

Also, Patrick Robert's answer has a function with more code but does what this answer does and more, by working even up to a 64bit range rather than just a 32bit range.

Number System

(123456).toString(2) will convert numbers to the base 2 positional numeral system. In this system negative numbers are written with minus signs just like in decimal.

Internal Representation

The internal representation of numbers is 64 bit floating point and some limitations are discussed in this answer. There is no easy way to create a bit-string representation of this in javascript nor access specific bits.

Masks & Bitwise Operators

MDN has a good overview of how bitwise operators work. Importantly:

Bitwise operators treat their operands as a sequence of 32 bits (zeros and ones)

Before operations are applied the 64 bit floating points numbers are cast to 32 bit signed integers. After they are converted back.

Here is the MDN example code for converting numbers into 32-bit strings.

function createBinaryString (nMask) {
  // nMask must be between -2147483648 and 2147483647
  for (var nFlag = 0, nShifted = nMask, sMask = ""; nFlag < 32;
       nFlag++, sMask += String(nShifted >>> 31), nShifted <<= 1);
  return sMask;
}

createBinaryString(0) //-> "00000000000000000000000000000000"
createBinaryString(123) //-> "00000000000000000000000001111011"
createBinaryString(-1) //-> "11111111111111111111111111111111"
createBinaryString(-1123456) //-> "11111111111011101101101110000000"
createBinaryString(0x7fffffff) //-> "01111111111111111111111111111111"