Strange binary number representation

Question

I have a very simple sketch, something like this:

int aFour = 4; 
softwareSerial.print(4,BIN); 
softwareSerial.print(aFour,BIN);

Which gives the following output:

1001
0011

Why don't they print both as 0100?

EDIT: the output was in one line : 10010011, I falsely asumed the output should be split into twice 4 bits.

Answer 1

• print never prints leading zeroes (how many should it print anyway?).
• print doesn't start a new line - you need println for that

So you get your 4 in binary printed twice followed by something else (not sure what - maybe something else in your program that you're not showing us?): 10010011

That's 100 100 11 when split up.