Why is only base64 instead of base128 used to transmit binary data on the web? The ASCII character set has 128 characters which in theory could represent base 128, but only base64 but not base128 is used in most cases.
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
Why is only base64 instead of base128 used to transmit binary data on the web? The ASCII character set has 128 characters which in theory could represent base 128, but only base64 but not base128 is used in most cases.
The problem is that at least 32 characters of the ASCII character set are ‘control characters’ which may be interpreted by the receiving terminal. E.g., there’s the BEL (bell) character that makes the receiving terminal chime. There’s the SOT (Start Of Transmission) and EOT (End Of Transmission) characters which performs exactly what their names imply. And don’t forget the characters CR and LF, which may have special meanings in how data structures are serialized/flattened into a stream.
Adobe created the Base85 encoding to use more characters in the ASCII character set, but AFAIK it’s protected by patents.