Coding and decoding

Rithi Biswas
8 min readMar 10, 2022

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Coding & Decoding. Heard it but cannot differentiate? Confused with the concept? We are here to help you to understand the idea.

First, let’s try to start with coding.

Coding is possibly one of the most frequently used words now and with this craze around coding, we can simply anticipate that coding is serging around the world. As technology has interfered our life from kitchen to bedroom, we consciously or unconsciously has been an user.

Technically, coding is the foundation of technology. Any electronic machine we use, coding is the foundation of it. Coding and computer are inextricably connected. Whatever action computer takes, has been given to computer with the help of coding. Simply put, coding are the messages that serves as set of instructions for the computer to do any work. Humans communcate the instruction in computer through different kinds of coding languages.

Coding Languages :

Officially, there are hundreds of programming languages and every year, more and more languages enter in the list. No matter how many languages exist, the basis of most of the languages is pretty much the same. Inspite of having thousands of languages, a few of them conduct most of the functions of computer.

Some of them would be-

Java

Python

C++

JavaScript

CSS

To know more about it, visit here.

For the information, the apps we use, the softwares which lead the electronic gadgets have more codes than we could count.

And decoding! Decoding is the exact opposite of coding or encoding. If coding is used in the sense of converting some messages or numbers in a particular code, decoding can be considered as a process to reconvert the specific pattern into its original form from the given codes. Therefore, coding can be considered as a process to exchange the message which cannot be understood by any third person but will do its work efficiently and transmit the messages to the sender safely.

The process is not as complicated as it looks. We even use it in our daily life.

Simply put, when we converse with people, we use words, signs or body languages to convey our messages. Now, we all know that words actually don’t have any meaningd but we have attached meanings, images or ideas to it for our own convenience. And this communications are meaningless to us if they don’t have any meanings. Okay, let’s not confuse meaning anymore with meaning. So, when we speak, we try to convey our messages with the words, signs or body languages and the person who is in the receiving end unfolds the words, signs or body languages and abstract the essence of the words and then person replies something and the same process continues. Now, the process she used to uncover the meaning of the words is called decoding. And encoding is the opposite. In encoding, we attach some meaning with our communication languages. The process of conversation kind of follows steps like —

Words/signs/body language> Decoding >Apprehension

Types of coding -decoding :

There are three types.

•Letter Coding

•Number /symbol coding

•Substitution coding

Letter Coding :

You possibly have seen or solved this kind of queries in competitive exam. But however, in letter coding, letters are served as symbols of mesages. And letter coding actually serves the main idea that a message have to converted to the other end ensuring it doesn’t reach to any third person.

So, how does it work?

Here, each letter is connected to another letter following certain rules and whenever a person decodes the messags, he or she has to remeber the formula either it won’t reach its targeted meaning.

You can see the image above; so taking the cue from the above picture LIGHT gets the form of YVTUG. Isn’t it!

But we can also use the formula of +1 or -1. If we use the +1 theory, then the same word LIGHT will get the form of ZWUVH. So, how did it happen?

Simple, in the above chart, we see for L we have to Y but as we have used the +1 theory then we have to use the next word of Y and that is Z. And that process follows same for the other words as well.

Number /Symbol Coding :

Numbers or Symbol coding is when we attach words or alphabetical letters with specific number. This problem can be very conplex when moving to higher level. But let’s try to understand it with simple example.

After seeing the above picture, we can simply guess that each number is attached with an alphabetical letter. The value of CHAIR is 12345 whereas The value os REAR is given 5678. So, from the given value about we can get the number code of REAR. As R is attached with the number 5 and the value of the following words can be drained from the above example; so, REAR is similar to 5635.

Substitution Coding :

Substitution coding-decoding is when a specific word is assigned to convey a substitute meaing. It can be understood with example.

Suppose, A mother is called Father, Father is called Daughter, Daughter is called Son and Son is Called Mother, then who is the Son?

Simply, the answer is obviously Mother as we see the word mother is applied here as the subsitute of son.

Coding in Computer :

Through coding, we kind of form a communication between humans and computers and this process is called coding or programming languages. And it involves the use of an specific process to change the original data into a form that can be understood by computers.

Process of Coding

The process of coding is followed by four stages. Four different forms of coding conduct different kinds of coding.

Data Compression (Source Coding) :

According to Wikipedia, “ Data compression attempts to remove redauncy from the data from a source in order to transmit it more effeciently. ” Or it can be said, data compression includes the process of encoding, restructuring or otherwise modifying data in order to reduce it. For example, ZIP data compression makes data files smaller.

Data compression benefits in many ways, like-

•It reduces internet traffics.

•It hugely reduces the storage jam by compressing data into smaller size.

•It makes the process of sending big files to other devices fast and efficient.

Error Control ( Channel Coding ) :

Error control coding or channel coding is the art of designing efficient and reliable data transmission methods. The purpose of it is to intoduce redundauncy to information messages so that errors that occur in the transmission can be detected and even corrected.

Error control codes are used in a variety of applications including satelite communication, mobile radio communication, computer networking etc.

Cryptografic Coding :

The basic idea of Cryptografic coding is encrypted messages where letters are replaced with other characters. It aims towards protecting information and communications through the use of codes. It is really benefitting because cryptografic coding retains complete privacy and less chance of leaking information.

Cryptografic coding is widely used to maintain the service privacy. It is used in cash withdrawl from an ATM, pay TV, secure web browsing etc.

Line Coding :

Line coding refers to the process of converting digital data into digital signals. Whenever data is transmitted, it is in the form of digital signals. With the help of line coding, sequence bits are converted in the digital signals and again reconverted in the form of bits by the receiver.

It is often used in digital data transport.

Requirements of becoming of coder :

Does coding exite you oris it you want to kickstart your career as a coder but confused about your arts or commerce background! No need to be confused. Coding does not demand any background. People from any educational backgrounds or with no background at all can start their career in programming language. You see, these days, children enrol in coding classes.

There is sufficient free material available in online. Or you can try free coding courses attainable coding courses, many websites or applications offer that or the way of self-teaching is always there.

Coding for kids:

Want to enrol your kids in coding?

Don’t know where to start?

This is not a problem anymore because your dream is just one click away from you. There are plenty of online coding platforms that provide coding courses for free or at minimum costs if you choose for online teaching. Coding websites like Whitehat Jr, Coursera, HackerRank are some leading online websites for learning. But if you want to go for convention learning, it is perfectly fine. There are many offline institutions that provide coding lessons. And there are obviously many open sources like YouTube, Google documents and more to help your kids to outperform everyone.

Just like that, codekaroyaaro also provides computer coding classess online. This is the top coding platform is especially designed for 6–15 years of kids. So, you can check their website.

To learn more about coding, visit codekaroyaaro. Don’t forget to visit their —

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Decoding :

Decoding in Technology :

Decoding is the exact opposite process of encoding. This process converts code into plain text or any format that is useful for subsequent process. It encodes converted data communication transmissions and files to their original state.

As of example, when a sending an email, all data, including certain attachments and images, are encoded using a format such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions ( MIME). When data arrives, decoding converts the email message content to its original form.

Thank you.

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