Computer Coding Systems

I N T R O D U C T I O N
This assignment deals with the computer coding system. Many different coding systems are used to represent data today. What is the
importance of co
ding systems
To represent numeric, alphabetic, and special characters in a computer's internal storage and on magnetic media, we must use some
sort of coding system. In computers, the code is made up of fixed size groups of binary positions. Each binary position in a group is
assigned a specific value; for example 8, 4, 2, or 1. In this way, every character can be represented by a combination of bits that is
different from any other combination.

Here we will learn about popular coding systems, used to represent data. The coding systems included are Binary, Octal,
Hexadecimal, BCD and American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), Grey code, Excess three codes.



B I N A R Y C O D I N G S Y S T E M
Binary numbers were first described in Chandashutram written by Pingala in 100 BC. Binary code was first introduced by the English
mathematician and philosopher Eugene Paul Curtis during the 17th century. Curtis was trying to find a system that converts logics
verbal statements into a pure mathematical one. He created a system consisting of rows of zeros and ones. During this time period,
Curtis had not yet found a use for this system. Another Mathematician- George Boole developed Boolean algebra, based on binary.
After that, a graduate student, Claude Shannon noticed that the Boolean algebra he learned was similar to an electric circuit. Shannon
wrote his thesis in 1937this was the starting point of the use of binary code in practical applications.

The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols: 0 and 1. More specifically, the
usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2. Because of its straightforward implementation in digital electronic
circuitry using logic gates, the binary system is used internally by almost all modern computers.

Any number can be represented by any sequence of bits (binary digits), which in turn may be represented by any mechanism capable
of being in two mutually exclusive states.

The numeric value represented in each case is dependent upon the value assigned to each symbol. In a computer, the numeric values
may be represented by two different voltages; on a magnetic disk, magnetic polarities may be used. A "positive", "yes", or "on" state is
not necessarily equivalent to the numerical value of one; it depends on the architecture in use.

In keeping with customary representation of numerals using Arabic numerals, binary numbers are commonly written using the
symbols 0 and 1. When written, binary numerals are often subscripted, prefixed or suffixed in order to indicate their base, or radix.

When spoken, binary numerals are usually read digit-by-digit in order to distinguish them from decimal numerals. For example, the
binary numeral 100 is pronounced one zero zero, rather than one hundred, to make its binary nature explicit, and for purposes of
correctness.

Since the binary numeral 100 represents the value four, it would be confusing to refer to the numeral as one hundred (a word that
represents a completely different value or amount). Alternatively, the binary numeral 100 can be read out as "four" (the correct
value),but this does not make its binary nature explicit.





B I N A R Y C O D E D D E C I M A L
Many non-integral values, such as decimal 0.2, have an infinite place-value representation in binary but have a finite place-value in
binary-coded decimal. Consequently a system based on binary coded decimal representations of decimal fractions avoids
errors representing and calculating such values.

In computing and electronic systems, binary- coded decimal (BCD) is a digital encoding method for numbers using decimal notation,
with each decimal digit represented by its own binary sequence. In BCD, a numeral is usually represented by four bits which, in
general, represent the decimal range 0 through 9. Other bit patterns are sometimes used for a sign or for other indications (e.g., error or
overflow).Uncompressed (or zoned) BCD consumes a byte for each represented numeral, whereas compressed (orpacked) BCD
typically carries two numerals in a single byte by taking advantage of the fact that four bits will represent the full numeral range.

BCD's main virtue is ease of conversion between machine- and human-readable formats, as well as a more precise machine-format
representation of decimal quantities. As compared to typical binary formats, BCD's principal drawbacks are a small increase in the
complexity of the circuits needed to implement basic mathematical operations and less efficient usage of storage facilities.BCD was
used in many early decimal computers. Although BCD is not as widely used as in the past, decimal fixed-point and floating-point
formats are still important and continue to be used in financial, commercial, and industrial computing, where subtle conversion
and rounding errors that are inherent to floating point binary representations cannot be tolerated.

As described earlier, BCD takes advantage of the fact that any one decimal numeral can be represented by a four bit pattern.

As most computers store data in 8-bit bytes, it is possible to use one of the following methods to encode a BCD number:
Uncompressed: each numeral is encoded into one byte, with four bits representing the numeral and the remaining bits having no
significance.
Packed: two numerals are encoded into a single byte, with one numeral in the least significant nibble (bits 0-3) and the other numeral
in the most significant nibble (bits 4-7).Hence the numerical range for one uncompressed BCD byte is zero through nine inclusive,
whereas the range for one packed BCD is zero through ninety-nine inclusive.

To represent numbers larger than the range of a single byte any number of contiguous bytes may be used.

Note that the most significant nibble of the most significant byte is zero, implying that the number is in actuality012345. Also note
how packed BCD is more efficient in storage usage as compared to uncompressed BCD; encoding the same number in uncompressed
format would consume 100 percent more storage.

Shifting and masking operations are used to pack or unpack a packed BCD digit. Other logical operations are used to convert a
numeral to its equivalent bit pattern or reverse the process.

Hence the numerical range for one uncompressed BCD byte is zero through nine inclusive, whereas the range for one packed BCD is
zero through ninety-nine inclusive.


O C T A L C O D I N G S Y S T E M
The octal numeral system, or oct for short, is the base-8 number system, and uses the digits 0 to 7. Numerals can be made from binary
numerals by grouping consecutive binary digits into groups of three (starting from the right). For example, the binary representation
for decimal 74 is 1001010, which can be grouped into (00)1 001 010

so the octal representation is 112.In decimal systems each decimal place is a base of 10. For example: In octal numerals each place is a
power with base 8. For example: By performing the calculation above in the familiar decimal system we see why 112 in octal is equal
to 64+8+2 = 74 in decimal.Octal is sometimes used in computing instead of hexadecimal.


H E X A D E C I M A L
In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal (also base 16, or hex) is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It
uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0

9 to represent values zero to nine, and A,B,C,D,E,F (or alternatively a f) to represent values ten to fifteen. For example, the
hexadecimal number 2AF3 is equal, in decimal, to (2 163) + (10162) + (15161) + (3160), or 10995.Each hexadecimal digit
represents four binary digits (bits), and the primary use of hexadecimal notation is a human-friendly representation of binary-coded
values in computing and digital electronics. One hexadecimal digit represents a nibble, which is half of an octet (8 bits). For example,
byte values can range from 0 to 255 (decimal), but may be more conveniently represented as two hexadecimal digits in the range 00 to
FF.Hexadecimal is also commonly used to represent computer memory addresses.


U N I C O D E
U n i c o d e is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding ,representation and handling of text expressed in most
of the world's writing systems .Developed in conjunction with the Universal Character Set standard and published in book form as
T h e U n i c o d e S t a n d a r d , the latest version of Unicode consists of a repertoire of more than 110,000 characters covering
100 scripts ,a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding methodology and set of standard character encodings ,an
enumeration of character properties such as upper and lower case ,a set of reference data computer files , and a number of related
items, such as character properties, rules for normalization , decomposition, collation ,rendering, and bidirectional display order (for
the correct display of text containing both right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew ,and left-to-right scripts). As of 2012, the
most recent version is U n i c o d e 6 . 1 .

Unicode's success at unifying character sets has led to its widespread and predominant use in the internationalization and
localization of computer software .The standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including XML ,the Java
programming language , the Microsoft .NET Framework ,and modern operating systems .

Unicode can be implemented by different character encodings .The most commonly used encodings are UTF-8 ,UTF-16 and the
now-obsolete UCS-2 .UTF-8 uses one byte for any ASCII characters, which have the same code values in both UTF-8 and ASCII
encoding, and up to four bytes for other characters. UCS-2 uses a 16-bit code unit ( two 8-bit bytes ) for each character but cannot
encode every character in the current Unicode standard.

UTF-16 extends UCS-2, using two 16-bit units (4 8 bit) to handle each of the additional characters.

A fixed-width, 16-bit worldwide character encoding that was developed and is maintained and promoted by the Unicode consortium, a
non-profit computer industry organization.

Unicode can represent most of the world languages. Because of that Unicode is important.


A S C I I ( A m e r i c a n s t a n d a r d c o d e f o r i n f o r m a t i o n
i n t e r c h a n g e )
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) was developed under the auspices of a committee of the American
Standards Association, called the X3 committee, by its X3.2 (later X3L2) subcommittee, and later by that subcommittee's X3.2.4
working group.

The ASA became the United States of America Standards Institute or USASI and ultimately the American National Standards
Institute. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme originally based on the English
alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text. Most modern
character-encoding schemes are based on ASCII, though they support many additional characters.

ASCII developed from telegraphic codes. Its first commercial use was as a seven-bit teleprinter code promoted by Bell data services.
Work on the ASCII standard began on October 6, 1960, with the first meeting of the American Standards Association's (ASA)
X3.2 subcommittee. The first edition of the standard was published during 1963, a major revision during 1967, and the most recent
update during 1986. Compared to earlier telegraph codes, the proposed Bell code and ASCII were both ordered for more convenient
sorting (i.e., alphabetization) of lists and added features for devices other than teleprinters.

ASCII is the most common code in use today. One of the really nice things about ASCII is that all of the alpha characters are
numbered sequentially; that is, 5 = A, 66 = B and so on until the end of the alphabet.



C O N C L U S I O N

These coding systems helps human to communicate with or through computers. So the need for coding systems is clear. In this age of
computers, it is essential.

More than this many coding systems exists here now. According to the increasing needs more and more developments are there in this
field. As computer students we must understand about the updates in these systems. Coding systems included in this are different from
one another. But still there are some similarities. Knowing and understanding about coding systems is fun and essential.