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Importance of coding and ASCII code

Short answer

Coding translates numbers, letters, and symbols into binary so digital systems can store, process, and transmit data reliably, also enabling error control and compression. ASCII is a 7-bit alphanumeric code for 128 characters: control codes (0-31,127), digits 48-57, uppercase 65-90, lowercase 97-122.

What is importance of coding? Explain about ASCII code briefly.

Importance of coding

Digital systems understand only 0s and 1s, so numbers, letters and symbols must be coded into binary patterns. Coding allows data to be stored, processed and exchanged in a standard way, makes displays easy (BCD), reduces errors (Gray code, parity, Hamming code) and allows secure or compressed transmission.

ASCII code

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a 7-bit alphanumeric code representing 27=1282^7 = 128 characters:

  • 0–31 and 127: control characters (e.g. CR = 13, LF = 10).
  • 48–57: digits '0'–'9'; 65–90: 'A'–'Z'; 97–122: 'a'–'z'.

Examples: 'A' = 65 = 100 0001 (41H); 'a' = 97 = 110 0001 (61H); '5' = 53 = 011 0101. An 8th bit is often used for parity or extended ASCII.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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