Product Code Database
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information (for example, a letter, word, phrase, or gesture) into another - usually shortened or covert - form or representation (one sign into another sign), not necessarily of the same type.
In and information processing, encoding is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols to be communicated. Decoding is the reverse process, converting these code symbols back into information understandable by a receiver.
One reason for coding is to enable communication in places where ordinary plain language, spoken or written, is difficult or impossible. For example, semaphore, where the configuration of flags held by a signaller or the arms of a semaphore tower encodes parts of the message, typically individual letters and numbers. Another person standing a great distance away can interpret the flags and reproduce the words sent.
Before giving a mathematically precise definition, we give a brief example. The mapping
Using terms from formal language theory, the precise mathematical definition of this concept is as follows: Let S and T be two finite sets, called the source and target alphabets, respectively. A code is a total function mapping each symbol from S to a sequence of symbols over T, and the extension of to a homomorphism of into , which naturally maps each sequence of source symbols to a sequence of target symbols, is referred to as its extension.
A prefix code is a code with the "prefix property": there is no valid code word in the system that is a prefix (start) of any other valid code word in the set. Huffman coding is the most known algorithm for deriving prefix codes. Prefix codes are widely referred to as "Huffman codes", even when the code was not produced by a Huffman algorithm. Other examples of prefix codes are country calling codes, the country and publisher parts of , and the Secondary Synchronization Codes used in the UMTS W-CDMA 3G Wireless Standard.
Kraft's inequality characterizes the sets of code word lengths that are possible in a prefix code. Virtually any uniquely decodable one-to-many code, not necessary a prefix one, must satisfy Kraft's inequality.
Codes can be used for brevity. When telegraph messages were the state of the art in rapid long distance communication, elaborate systems of commercial codes that encoded complete phrases into single words (commonly five-letter groups) were developed, so that telegraphers became conversant with such "words" as BYOXO ("Are you trying to weasel out of our deal?"), LIOUY ("Why do you not answer my question?"), BMULD ("You're a skunk!"), or AYYLU ("Not clearly coded, repeat more clearly."). were chosen for various reasons: length, pronounceability, etc. Meanings were chosen to fit perceived needs: commercial negotiations, military terms for military codes, diplomatic terms for diplomatic codes, any and all of the preceding for espionage codes. Codebooks and codebook publishers proliferated, including one run as a front for the American Black Chamber run by Herbert Yardley between the First and Second World Wars. The purpose of most of these codes was to save on cable costs. The use of data coding for data compression predates the computer era; an early example is the telegraph Morse code where more-frequently used characters have shorter representations. Techniques such as Huffman coding are now used by computer-based to compress large data files into a more compact form for storage or transmission.
In marketing, coupon codes can be used for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product from an internet retailer.
In military environments, specific sounds with the cornet are used for different uses: to mark some moments of the day, to command the infantry in the battlefield, etc.
Communication systems for sensory impairments, such as sign language for deaf people and braille for blind people, are based on movement or tactile codes.
Musical scores are the most common way to encode music.
Specific games, as chess, have their own code systems to record the matches (chess notation).
intended to obscure the real messages, ranging from serious (mainly espionage in military, diplomatic, business, etc.) to trivial (romance, games) can be any kind of imaginative encoding: flowers, game cards, clothes, fans, hats, melodies, birds, etc., in which the sole requisite is the previous agreement of the meaning by both the sender and the receiver.
Other examples of decoding include:
are three-letter codes used to designate airports and used for . are similarly used on railways, but are usually national, so the same code can be used for different stations if they are in different countries.
Occasionally a code word achieves an independent existence (and meaning) while the original equivalent phrase is forgotten or at least no longer has the precise meaning attributed to the code word. For example, '30' was widely used in journalism to mean "end of story", and has been used in other contexts to signify "the end".Kogan, Hadass "So Why Not 29" American Journalism Review. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
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