Editing Code (section)

== Examples ==
=== Codes in communication used for brevity ===
{{Main|Brevity code}}
A cable code replaces words (e.g. ''ship'' or ''invoice'') with shorter words, allowing the same information to be sent with fewer [[character (computing)|characters]], more quickly, and less expensively.

Codes can be used for brevity. When [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] messages were the state of the art in rapid long-distance communication, elaborate systems of [[commercial code (communications)|commercial codes]] that encoded complete phrases into single mouths (commonly five-minute groups) were developed, so that telegraphers became conversant with such "words" as ''BYOXO'' ("Are you trying to weasel out of our deal?"), ''LIOUY'' ("Why do you not answer my question?"), ''BMULD'' ("You're a skunk!"), or ''AYYLU'' ("Not clearly coded, repeat more clearly."). [[Code word (figure of speech)|Code word]]s were chosen for various reasons: [[length]], [[pronounceability]], etc. Meanings were chosen to fit perceived needs: commercial negotiations, military terms for military codes, diplomatic terms for diplomatic codes, any and all of the preceding for espionage codes. Codebooks and codebook publishers proliferated, including one run as a front for the American [[Black Chamber]] run by [[Herbert Yardley]] between the First and Second World Wars. The purpose of most of these codes was to save on cable costs. The use of data coding for [[data compression]] predates the computer era; an early example is the telegraph [[Morse code]] where more-frequently used characters have shorter representations. Techniques such as [[Huffman coding]] are now used by computer-based [[algorithm]]s to compress large data files into a more compact form for storage or transmission.

=== Character encodings ===
{{Main|Character encoding}}
Character encodings are representations of textual data. A given character encoding may be associated with a specific character set (the collection of characters which it can represent), though some character sets have multiple character encodings and vice versa. Character encodings may be broadly grouped according to the number of bytes required to represent a single character: there are single-byte encodings, [[Wide character|multibyte]] (also called wide) encodings, and [[Variable-width encoding|variable-width]] (also called variable-length) encodings. The earliest character encodings were single-byte, the best-known example of which is [[ASCII]]. ASCII remains in use today, for example in [[HTTP headers]]. However, single-byte encodings cannot model character sets with more than 256 characters. Scripts that require large character sets such as [[CJK characters|Chinese, Japanese and Korean]] must be represented with multibyte encodings. Early multibyte encodings were fixed-length, meaning that although each character was represented by more than one byte, all characters used the same number of bytes ("word length"), making them suitable for decoding with a lookup table. The final group, variable-width encodings, is a subset of multibyte encodings. These use more complex encoding and decoding logic to efficiently represent large character sets while keeping the representations of more commonly used characters shorter or maintaining backward compatibility properties. This group includes [[UTF-8]], an encoding of the [[Unicode]] character set; UTF-8 is the most common encoding of text media on the Internet.

=== Genetic code ===
{{Main|Genetic code}}
[[Biology|Biological]] organisms contain genetic material that is used to control their function and development. This is [[DNA]], which contains units named [[gene]]s from which [[messenger RNA]] is derived. This in turn produces [[protein]]s through a [[genetic code]] in which a series of triplets ([[codon]]s) of four possible [[nucleotides]] can be translated into one of twenty possible [[amino acid]]s. A sequence of codons results in a corresponding sequence of amino acids that form a protein molecule; a type of codon called a [[stop codon]] signals the end of the sequence.

=== Gödel code ===
In [[mathematics]], a [[Gödel code]] is the basis for the proof of [[Gödel]]'s [[incompleteness theorem]]. Here, the idea is to map [[mathematical notation]] to a [[natural number]] (using a [[Gödel numbering]]).

=== Other ===
There are codes using colors, like [[traffic lights]], the [[Electronic color code|color code]] employed to mark the nominal value of the [[Resistor|electrical resistor]]s or that of the trashcans devoted to specific types of garbage (paper, glass, organic, etc.).

In [[marketing]], [[coupon]] codes can be used for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product from a (usual internet) retailer.

In military environments, specific sounds with the [[cornet]] are used for different uses: to mark some moments of the day, to command the infantry on the battlefield, etc.

Communication systems for sensory impairments, such as [[sign language]] for deaf people and [[braille]] for blind people, are based on movement or tactile codes.

[[Sheet music|Musical scores]] are the most common way to encode [[music]].

Specific games have their own code systems to record the matches, e.g. [[chess notation]].

=== Cryptography ===
In the [[history of cryptography]], [[Code (cryptography)|codes]] were once common for ensuring the confidentiality of communications, although [[cipher]]s are now used instead.

Secret codes intended to obscure the real messages, ranging from serious (mainly [[espionage]] in military, diplomacy, business, etc.) to trivial (romance, games) can be any kind of imaginative encoding: [[Language of flowers|flowers]], game cards, clothes, fans, hats, melodies, birds, etc., in which the sole requirement is the pre-agreement on the meaning by both the sender and the receiver.