ASCII

ASCII

1. 7-bit encoding

   • In total, you can store 128 different characters therefore 127 is the biggest possible number that you can write.
   • Binary form
     • Using 0 and 1
   • 7 bits is one byte; however, a computer will probably just add a 0 before each binary number as it will be easier for it to read it that way.
   • 1 bit is one space where you can write either a 1, either a 0

2. American Standard Code for International Interchange.

3. One of the first formats for text files on computers and on the internet.

   • It's the most commonly used one now.

4. On it, you can write any character- including numbers, punctuation and letters from the Latin alphabet.

   • There are other different formats for characters from another language (e.g. Chinese or Russian as they have different letters.)
   • For instance, capital A is 65th and would therefore be represented as 1000001 in binary form on the computer. Capital B is 66th and would be represented as 1000010.
     • Lowercase a= 97 = 1100001 Lowercase b = 98 = 1100010
       • Exclamation mark (!) = 33 = 0100001
         • One (1) = 49 = 0110001

5. How did it start?

   • A group of people came together and decided the order of all the characters.
     • Like making up a secret code with your friends.
   • You can make your own- decide on what number will represent what word/character/symbol etc. with a friend and write messages to each other.