This is a list of some binary codes that are (or have been) used to represent text as a sequence of binary digits "0" and "1". Fixed-width binary codes use a set number of bits to represent each character in the text, while in variable-width binary codes, the number of bits may vary from character to character.
Several different five-bit codes were used for early punched tape systems.
Five bits per character only allows for 32 different characters, so many of the five-bit codes used two sets of characters per value referred to as FIGS (figures) and LTRS (letters), and reserved two characters to switch between these sets. This effectively allowed the use of 60 characters.
Standard five-bit standard codes are:
The following early computer systems each used its own five-bit code:
The steganographic code, commonly known as Bacon's cipher uses groups of 5 binary-valued elements to represent letters of the alphabet.
Six bits per character allows 64 distinct characters to be represented.
Examples of six-bit binary codes are:
See also: Six-bit character codes
Examples of seven-bit binary codes are:
Data compression systems such as Lempel–Ziv–Welch can compress arbitrary binary data. They are therefore not binary codes themselves but may be applied to binary codes to reduce storage needs.
