Base64 Encoder: Encoder Your Data
Base64 encoding is basically a binary to text encoding. What is binary? This is also very easy to explain, binary data is an image, audio, or non-text data. It is represented with ASCII characters. It is called Base64 because it uses the ASCII character set of ASCII.
The main reason for encoding is that you want to transfer this data with an email or in the URL. If you want to transfer the Base64 data through this kind of system, you might get a chance to have corrupt data due to data loss during the transfer. As you can imagine, missing a note on the music or nose in the picture will not be pretty. Therefore, encoding and transferring these kinds of data safely through a text base system is better to use. And some text base systems have character limits and with this encoding, you can easily pass this limitation.
Base64 data transfer is used by all the email services and data providers. One thing needs to be addressed while explaining this subject, it does not provide any security or encryption. Anybody who has the converted text can read the file back by decoding from Base64 format
For example, consider the following binary data (in hexadecimal notation):
Binary: 01001001 01000111 01001110
Hex: 49 47 4E
When Base64 encoded, it might look like this:
Base64: SUdO
Why Base64 Encoding is Essential
Base64 encoding is used widely in development environment where you need to transfer the data that can be incompatible with text only systems like;
- Embedding Images in HTML/CSS: Base64 can help you to embed small images directly within HTML or CSS files. By doing this, you can decrease the number of server request, makes your sites speeds higher.
- Sending Attachments in Email: Most of the email services that we know using Base64 to encode attachments. This helps to reduce the data corruption.
- Data URIs for Web Pages: Base64 encoded data URIs are used to include media files like images in pages.
The ones I explained above are showing the importance of Base64 to ensure that maintaining of the data integrity across different systems.
How Base64 Encoding Works
In Base64 encoding there is a binary data which is divided into groups of 6 bits. And each group is mapped to a specific ASCII character. By having this, encoded Base64 format will always be larger. This increased size is a small trade off for data compatibility.
Limitations and Considerations
It is very important know that Base64 encoding is not a compression tool. Size increases with this action. It also offers no security so anyone has the Base64 encoded text can be decoded it back to original form. So it is good to know that you should not put sensitive information in it and depending on the security part of the system. You can still use Base64 and but use encryption methods along with it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Is Base64 secure? A: No, Base64 encoding is not secure as I explain above. It just converts data to text, and it is easily reversable.
Q: Can I use Base64 for large files? A: Base64 is great for small and medium size data and it reduces server calls if you used in your website but for the large files, it has adverse effect and can have impact on loading time.
Q: What characters are used in Base64 encoding? A: Base64 uses 64 characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, and /. Padding with = is used when the binary data doesn’t divide evenly.