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ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange and is a standard character encoding that assigns a unique numerical value to letters, numbers, punctuation, and control characters so that computers and other electronic devices can exchange and interpret data consistently. This 7-bit standard encodes 128 characters, including uppercase and lowercase English letters, digits, and various symbols. Each character is represented by a unique integer, which is then converted into binary code (0s and 1s) for storage and processing by computers.

Key aspects of ASCII:

Universal Standard: ASCII provides a universal way for different computer systems and manufacturers to understand and process text data, preventing incompatibility issues seen before its development.

Character Encoding: It translates characters into numbers, making it possible for computers, which operate on binary, to handle text.

Bit Width: The original ASCII standard uses 7 bits to represent each character, resulting in 128 possible values (2^7).

Printable vs. Control Characters: The 128 characters include 95 printable characters (letters, numbers, punctuation, space) and 33 control characters, which are used to manage devices or indicate start/end of data.

Evolution and Limitations: While powerful for English text, the 128 characters are insufficient for other languages or special symbols, leading to the creation of Extended ASCII and later, the more comprehensive Unicode standard.