2. What is coding of data?

Any system will need to have data collected, entered and stored.

One method of storing data is to assign codes to it. This usually means shortening the original data either by removing a few letters:

Example 1

Original data: Monday; Tuesday; Wednesday; Thursday; Friday

Coded data: Mon; Tues; Wed; Thurs; Fri

Example 2

Original data: Xtra Large; Large; Medium; Small

Coded data: XL; L; M; S

Example 3

The above codes are fairly easy for anyone to recognise and understand. Some codes however are more complicated. What do you think the following codes might represent?

RG935LR

CV183TP

The above examples could be postcodes. They represent a street name, a particular part of the street and the town where the street is located.

Example 4

How about:

SK12BN

TR14GN

These might be a little bit more difficult because the code is made up from different representative parts. Let's have a closer look.

The first part represents a piece of clothing, so 'SK' represented 'Skirt' and 'TR' represented 'Trousers'

The middle part of the code was the dress size.

The final part of the code represented a colour, so 'BN' represented 'Brown' and 'GN' represented 'Green'.

You should be able to see from that information that the first code is a size 12 brown skirt. What piece of clothing would the second code represent?