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Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: June 01, 2012 09:53 UTC (52 seconds ago)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Encoding is the process of transforming information from one format into another. The opposite operation is called decoding. This is often used in many digital devices
There are a number of more specific meanings that apply in certain contexts:
Encoding (in cognition) is a basic perceptual process of interpreting incoming stimuli; technically speaking, it is a complex, multi-stage process of converting relatively objective sensory input (e.g., light, sound) into subjectively meaningful experience.
Character encoding is a code that pairs a set of natural language characters (such as an alphabet or syllabary) with a set of something else, such as numbers or electrical pulses.
Text encoding uses a markup language to tag the structure and other features of a text to facilitate processing by computers. (See also Text Encoding Initiative.)
Semantics encoding of formal language A in formal language B is a method of representing all terms (e.g. programs or descriptions) of language A using language B.