Converting Binary to Text (ASCII)

In last post, we saw about how binary works and how it is converted to decimal. In this post we will see about how these binary codes are converted into text by the computer.

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

ASCII is essentially the letters, numbers and symbols that are stored in our computers through the use of fonts.When the keyboard relays the buttons you pressed, it sends in a code which is then converted to the ASCII equivalent.

For example:

Here is a HIDDEN message in the form of Binary Code.

0100100001100101011011000110110001101111
 Lets split this up into 8 bit codes.

01001000  01100101  01101100  01101100  01101111

Now find the  decimal values for these codes.

01001000 = 72
01100101 = 101
01101100 = 108
01101100 = 108
01101111 = 111

Here comes the concept of ASCII .There is something called ASCII tables.
It contains alphabets,numbers and symbols. Each of them essentially corresponding to the related values.

For the computer it is programmed into them. For us the computer provides a short-cut to identify the ASCII code.

By pressing ALT + [The Number], you will get the ASCII equivalent of that number. 


For example, by pressing the ALT key and then the numbers 72 in any text editor, you will get the corresponding “H” to show up.

so lets try for all the numbers,

72 = H
101 = e
108 = l
108 = l
111 = o

So the entire HIDDEN message is translated to TEXT.

ASCII Table: DOWNLOAD