An address looks like dotted text, but routers compare it as a fixed-width integer. This lesson starts from the bytes and shows how each octet becomes part of the number.
highlighted = computed this step
Why addresses are numbers
An IP address is written with dots for humans, but the wire carries a fixed-width integer. The strip shows the bytes that make the arithmetic possible.
address bits=32
Four bytes make one address
The address 192.168.1.130 is 32 bits wide. Each dotted part is one 8-bit byte.
0xc0a80182↔192.168.1.130
Decode it again
The same rule reads 8.8.8.8 from the bytes 0x08080808. The dots are display punctuation; the bytes are the source.
0x08080808↔8.8.8.8
Summary
A dotted address is a four-byte integer, so later mask arithmetic can operate bit by bit. Address arithmetic only; timing/throughput is not modeled here.