Answer: The full form of ASCII is American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
It is a widely used standard for encoding characters in computers and digital communication systems. It was created in the 1960s to make sure that text looked the same on all devices and platforms. ASCII uses a 7-bit binary code to represent 128 different characters, such as uppercase and lowercase English letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and control characters. It was the basis for many character encoding systems that came after it, like ISO-8859 and Unicode.
As technology changed, there was a growing need for a more complete set of characters. This led to the creation of Unicode. Unicode is an international standard for encoding characters that can represent almost every written language in the world, as well as ASCII characters. Even though Unicode came out, ASCII is still useful and is still used in many applications, especially because it is compatible and easy to use. It is a useful tool for things like data transmission, programming languages, and file formats because it is small and easy to use.
History of ASCII
When computers and communication devices needed a consistent method to represent text, ASCII was created. Pre-ASCII computers used numerous character encoding schemes, making information exchange problematic.
- In the early 1960s, ASA X3.2 Subcommittee produced a standard character encoding method. Bob Bemer’s group used Baudot and FIELDATA teleprinter codes. After several changes, ASCII ASA X3.4-1963 was released in 1963. The original version featured 128 7-bit binary characters.
- USASCII, ASA X3.4-1967, includes control characters. ASCII-1986 was updated in 1977 and 1986. ASCII’s highest standard.
- ASCII preceded EBCDIC, ISO-8859, and Unicode. Notwithstanding Unicode, ASCII is still used in computers because of its simplicity, compatibility, and historical value.
Features of ASCII
- ASCII promotes mobility and interoperability by standardizing electronic text character representation.
- ASCII’s 7-bit binary character format makes it easy to understand, use, and use in many scenarios.
- ASCII is widely accepted, making it handy for transmitting information and communicating across platforms, programs, and languages.
- ASCII can represent capital and lowercase letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and control characters, making it versatile.
- ASCII’s 7-bit character representation makes data transmission and storage compact and efficient.
Importance of ASCII
- ASCII works with many hardware, software, and computer languages. Hence, it is a reliable data and communication tool.
- ASCII is easy to understand, use, and implement since each character is represented by a 7-bit binary code.
- The first character encoding system, ASCII, paved the door for others. It shaped computer history and continues to influence modern technologies.
- Compactness: ASCII encodes each character in 7 bits, making it an efficient data transmission and storage system.
- Due to its vast character set, ASCII can encode many data formats. Capital and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and control characters are included.
Limitations of ASCII
- ASCII’s 128 characters are inadequate for many languages and special symbols. Extended ASCII codes and Unicode sprang from this constraint.
- ASCII cannot represent non-English characters or symbols since it was created for English. This makes multilingual text data representation difficult.
- Rich text formatting: ASCII only encodes plain text characters, not bold, italics, or underlining. This makes ASCII formatting harder.
- ASCII employs seven bits for each character, which is wasteful compared to alternative encoding systems. Inefficiency may increase file sizes and transmission times.