Q.Encode the word DATA and convert the encoded value into binary values which can be understood by a computer.

ASCII Character Encoding

Imagine you're sending a letter to a friend, but the only way to communicate is through a series of numbered boxes. You need a rulebook that says "Box 65 means 'A', Box 66 means 'B'," and so on. That rulebook is exactly what ASCII is — a standard mapping between numbers and characters.

The Core Idea

Computers only understand numbers (binary, specifically). But humans need to work with letters, digits, punctuation, and control signals. ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is the simplest, most fundamental agreement on how to represent text as numbers.

Every character you type on a standard English keyboard — every letter, digit, space, and punctuation mark — has a unique 7-bit number assigned to it. That's 128 possible characters (2^7 = 128), numbered from 0 to 127.

The Precise Statement

Here's the breakdown:

• Control characters (0–31, plus 127): These don't print anything visible. They tell the computer or printer to do something — like "ring the bell" (7), "move to next line" (10), "tab over" (9), or "delete previous character" (127). You never see them on screen, but they're essential for formatting and device control. …