Character Storage

• What is a character set?

  A table matching characters with binary values
• Why are character sets necessary?

  They allow data exchange and character input
• What are two common character sets?

  ASCII and Unicode
• What is the binary code for the character H in ASCII?

  01001000
• How many bits does ASCII use?

  1 byte (8 bits)
• How many possible characters can ASCII represent?

  256 possible characters
• What limitation does ASCII have?

  Cannot represent all languages and symbols
• How many bytes does Unicode use for each character?

  2 bytes (16 bits)
• How many possible characters can Unicode represent?

  65,536 possible characters
• Why is Unicode more popular than ASCII?

  It supports many languages and symbols
• What is the binary code for the character A in ASCII?

  01000001
• What is the binary code for the character B in ASCII?

  01000010
• What is the binary code for the character C in ASCII?

  01000011
• How is the file size of a text file calculated?

  • File size = bits per character x number of characters
• If a text file uses ASCII and contains 300 characters, what is its size in bits?

  2,400 bits
• What is the size in bytes of a text file with 300 ASCII characters?

  300 bytes
• What is the size in kilobytes of a text file with 300 ASCII characters?

  0.3 kilobytes
• If a text file uses Unicode and contains 150 characters, what is its size in kilobytes?

  4.5 kilobytes
• How many bits does Unicode use per character?

  16 bits (2 bytes)
• What is the binary code for the character P in ASCII?

  01010000
• What would be the binary code for the character S in ASCII?

  01010011
• What are the differences between ASCII and Unicode?

  • ASCII uses 1 byte, Unicode uses 2 bytes
  • ASCII supports 256 characters, Unicode supports 65,536 characters
  • ASCII is limited to English, Unicode supports multiple languages
• What is the significance of character sets in computing?

  • Enable data exchange
  • Allow human character input