codings

Codings refers to the various methods by which information is represented or transformed into codes or encoded forms. In information technology, coding encompasses the practice of encoding data to enable storage, transmission, and interpretation, as well as the theoretical study of how information can be efficiently and reliably represented. In biology, codings can describe how genetic information is translated from nucleotides into proteins through the genetic code.

In computing, common codings include character encodings such as ASCII and Unicode (UTF-8), binary representations, and encodings used for data transmission and storage such as Base64 and URL encoding. Compression schemes (Huffman, LZW) and error-correcting codes (Reed-Solomon, LDPC) are also considered codings. The field of coding theory studies these problems, focusing on how to represent information efficiently (source coding) and reliably over imperfect channels (channel coding).

Genetic coding describes how sequences of nucleotides are mapped to amino acids in proteins, via codons in the genetic code; the code is nearly universal but exhibits redundancy, providing robustness to mutations. Code interpretation also underpins many fields, from digital media to secure communications. The choice of coding scheme affects compatibility, efficiency, and error resilience.