ASCII
Text encoding standard
ASCII, pronounced "ASK-ee," stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a character encoding system that assigns numerical values to letters, numbers, and symbols.
Developed in the 1960s, it became the foundation for text representation in computers and remains embedded in modern encoding standards.
The basic ASCII set uses 7 bits to represent 128 characters, including uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, punctuation, and control characters.
The file was saved as plain ASCII text.
Consisting of two parts
- bitsSmall portions or pieces
- octetGroup of precisely eight
- byteDigital information unit
- decimalTenths-based notation
hexadecimal · octal · character set · charset · UTF-8 · transmission
Bathroom fixture manufacturer
- ANSIAmerican technical standards organization
- telegraphyElectrical long-distance messaging
- teletypeElectric text transmitter
- mainframeLarge centralized computer system
terminal · standardization · 1963 · interchange · telegraph · punch card · paper tape · telex
Letters and digits combined
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
- digitsSingle-place numerals
- punctuationWritten clarity symbols
- symbolsMarks conveying meaning
space · null · backspace · newline · carriage return · tab · escape · delete
Arranging letters for display
Unencoded readable information
- txtShort mobile message
- readmeProject documentation file
- logSectioned tree trunk
- notepadBound sheets for writing
configuration · script · source code · flat file · CR · text editor · nano · human-readable
binary
Consisting of two parts
decimal · hexadecimal · octal · character set · charset · UTF-8 · transmission
American Standard
Bathroom fixture manufacturer
- ANSIAmerican technical standards organization
- telegraphyElectrical long-distance messaging
- teletypeElectric text transmitter
mainframe · terminal · standardization · 1963 · interchange · telegraph · punch card · paper tape · telex · modem
alphanumeric
Letters and digits combined
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
- digitsSingle-place numerals
- punctuationWritten clarity symbols
symbols · space · null · backspace · newline · carriage return · tab · escape · delete · bell
typography
Arranging letters for display
banner · bulletin board · signature · monospace · roguelike
plaintext
Unencoded readable information
notepad · configuration · script · source code · flat file · CR · text editor · nano · human-readable
- data formatsJSON, XML, CSV, YAML, HTML
- codespassword, binary, DNA, RNA, QR code
- codes and cipherscipher, code, decode, decrypt, encrypt
- computer termsbit, byte, binary, cursor, click
- communication systemsalphabet, sign language, Braille, Morse code, hieroglyphics
- standardsstandard, standards, norm, norms, criterion
ASCIIciphertext
Encoded, unreadable message
encrypted · encoded · obfuscated · scrambled · hashed
ASCIIbinary
Consisting of two parts
binary data · machine code · binary file · bytecode · hexadecimal
- ascii artPictures using standard characters
- ASCII codeText-to-number encoding standard
- ASCII textStandard character code format