Binary numbers in Python

'''
I expect the intent behind this assignment was to work in binary string format.
This is absolutely doable.
'''

def compare(bin1, bin2):
    return bin1.lstrip('0') == bin2.lstrip('0')

def add(bin1, bin2):
    result = ''
    blen = max((len(bin1), len(bin2))) + 1
    bin1, bin2 = bin1.zfill(blen), bin2.zfill(blen)
    carry_s = '0'
    for b1, b2 in list(zip(bin1, bin2))[::-1]:
        count = (carry_s, b1, b2).count('1')
        carry_s = '1' if count >= 2 else '0'
        result += '1' if count % 2 else '0'
    return result[::-1]

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print(add('101', '100'))

I leave the subtraction func as an exercise for the reader.

For example, 00000011 - 00000001 = 00000010

You can remove the zeroes and then add them again after you do your calculation! This works very easy.

If your binary is stored as a string then you can convert to int which will automatically strip the zeroes from the start. After you have your answer you can turn it back into a string and add the zeroes to the start.