title: how to fetch the MIPS-opcode from the hex
body: <p>How do I calculate the leftmost 6 bits from numbers like <code>0x71014802</code>
  These 6 bits tell us what MIPS instruction this code represents.
  The answer is <code>0x1c</code>  but how does the book calculate it? </p>
  
  <p>Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>0x10001A08 = 000011 00000 10000 01000 00000 000111
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How was this <code>71014802</code> been converted into binary? How do I accomplish this? </p>