Code.org Computer Science Discoveries Practice Test

Encoding is changing information into a form that a computer can read. This process converts data from its original form into a standardized representation the machine can store, transmit, and process, often turning characters into numbers or binary. Decoding is the opposite: turning the machine-readable form back into something humans can understand. ASCII and Binary describe specific ways data can be represented, but they are formats, not the action of changing the representation. So the act of changing information so a computer can read it is encoding.