Character encoding is a code that pairs a sequence of characters from a character set with another representation, such as numbers or electrical pulses, to facilitate the storage and transmission of text in computers and networks. Common examples of character encoding include Morse code, which represents letters as long and short key presses, and ASCII, which encodes characters as integers and 7-bit binary numbers generally extended to 8-bits. Proper character encoding is important for applications to correctly interpret and manipulate text.

1. Character Encoding

2. Outline
• What is character encoding?
• ASCII
• Unicode
• UTF-8

3. Character Encoding
• A character encoding consists of a code that pairs a
sequence of characters from a given character set with
something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers
or electrical pulses
• Used to facilitate the storage of text in computers and
the transmission of text through telecommunication
networks.
• Common examples include:
– Morse code, which encodes letters of the Latin alphabet
as series of long and short depressions of a telegraph key
– ASCII, which encodes letters, numerals, and other
symbols, both as integers and as 7-bit binary versions of
those integers, generally extended with an extra zero-bit
(or a parity bit) to facilitate storage in 8-bit bytes

4. Character Encoding
• When manipulating text, an application must
know how the text is encoded
• That is why you occasionally see gibberish in
text files and on the web