Codedata

Codedata refers to data that has been transformed into a coded form through encoding, labeling, or categorization. It contrasts with raw data by replacing raw values with codes, symbols, or compressed representations to facilitate storage, transmission, or analysis.

Types include character encodings (Base64, URL encoding), numeric or categorical encodings (label encoding, one-hot), and code-based representations used by standards (such as ICD-10 medical codes, ISBN product codes, currency codes like USD). It can also include lossless or lossy compression; encryption does not typically count as codedata because it hides content rather than just coding.

Applications include data integration, interoperability, and privacy-preserving sharing through pseudonymization to reduce exposure of sensitive values, as well as efficient computation. In analytics, codedata supports operations such as grouping, matching, and indexing.

Standards and governance: Coding schemes are defined in data dictionaries or ontologies; documentation is essential for interpretation. Standards bodies publish coding schemes (ISO, HL7 for medical, W3C for web encodings).

Limitations and considerations: Codedata may entail information loss or bias if codes are not granular enough. Reuse of codes without context can lead to misinterpretation; provenance and versioning are important.

Common examples include ICD-10 medical diagnoses, ISO currency codes, and Base64 representations of binary content.