Types Of Computer Code

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Types of Computer Code. It is interesting to note that computers understand data very differently from the way we do. In the computer world a series of zeros and ones carry the day. It would be an uphill task for every day computer users other than computer programmers and their ilk to decipher the meaning of a list of zeros and ones. We understand certain symbols, characters and images. These are also Greek to computers. These series of zeroes and ones bring about the existence of the types of computer code.

We can refer to these series of zeroes and ones as the binary computer system. To encode information in the computer world means to transform it from numeral, alphabetic and non numeral forms into binary form. A zero means off while a one means on. A final digit is assigned to the zeroes and ones combinations by the computer thus sense can be made out of it.

There are different ways of encoding which in a way bring about certain types of computer code. The ways of encoding a numerical figure will be different from the ways of encoding a non numerical figure. This is because the binary coding and the number base in arithmetic are totally different. There is a special table of code translation by transformation which assists programmers. It incorporates a table base address and an incoming five bit code to result in an address of table entry.

The types of computer code can be grouped into two depending on the method used to encode numerical data. In this case, numerical data runs from zero to nine. A two out of five code requires five bits for every digit. Only two one bit are contained in the code. All other five- bit combinations are declared null and void. This property is very important as single errors and common multiple errors can be avoided. A four bit also uses different set of codes from zero to nine.

A six bit code is useful as it can incorporate several character sets. At its inception, it was guided by the needs of the IBM which had forty eight characters. Despite its ample capacity, it has certain disadvantages when compared to the four bit and the eight bit computer codes.

Other computer codes were the seven bit computer code, nine bit computer code and the thirty six bit computer code. There are probably more than these that are undocumented. These types of computer code have however been rendered archaic and very few computer systems in the modern world use them anymore. However, they can easily be converted into the modern type of computer code that is very popular not only to users of individual computers but also to those of network computers.

The eight bit computer code is concludes the list of the types of computer code. It has come to endear itself to computer programmers and hence remained the most popular computer code. There is a list of seven thousand and thirty character set codes and graphic symbols used alongside it.