13base

13base is a software library and platform designed to support encoding, computation, and analysis within the base-13 numeral system. It provides tools for converting numbers between base-13 and common bases, performing arithmetic in base-13 with arbitrary precision, and representing results in human-friendly digit sets. The project is intended for educational use, numerical research, and software development that requires non-standard numeral bases.

Origin and development: The project emerged from a collaboration of mathematicians and developers seeking to explore alternative numeral systems. It was released as open-source software with bindings for multiple languages to facilitate use in teaching and research. The core engine is designed for performance, while modular components allow extensions such as custom digit alphabets and alternative I/O schemes.

Architecture and features: The architecture comprises a core computational engine, a binding layer for languages such as Python and JavaScript, and a storage-agnostic I/O subsystem. Features include base-13 encoding and decoding, arithmetic operations, arbitrary precision math, customizable digit sets, and support for JSON, CSV, and web APIs. A test suite emphasizes correctness and reproducibility.

Usage and applications: 13base is used in academic demonstrations of numeral systems, in classroom labs, and in software projects that require non-decimal representations. It also serves as a reference implementation for researchers studying historical or theoretical bases.

Licensing and reception: 13base is distributed under an open-source license and maintained by a community of contributors. It has a modest but active user base and ongoing documentation, tutorials, and examples. Community channels provide issue tracking, discussions, and pull requests to propose enhancements.