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What does Alphanumeric Mean?

Mary McMahon
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Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 104,722
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The term “alphanumeric” is used to refer to the collective set of 26 Latin letters and 10 Arabic numerals used by many nations around the world. The text in this article is alphanumeric, as it includes both letters and numbers. Often, consumers are also encouraged to use such codes as passwords, as codes that mix letters and numbers are typically more difficult to break than those with just one or the other. Many human communications use this code, just as many people do every time they write down their name and phone number or give someone their address.

Arabic numerals have been used to record numbers for centuries, although they did not reach the West until around the 12th century. It took several more centuries for numerals to become widely accepted. In addition to serving as an efficient and easier to read alternative to Roman numerals, Arabic numbers also contained the important concept of zero. There are ten digits, meaning that the numeral system they represent is a base 10 number system.

The Latin alphabet has also been in development for centuries and is widely used for written communication in many languages. Early attempts at using the Latin alphabet for numbers, including Roman numerals, were less than successful. While it is, of course, possible to write out numbers in the Latin alphabet, the adoption of Arabic numerals represented a significant improvement in communications and mathematics. By using both, people could greatly improve their ability to communicate with one another.

The alphanumeric set of 36 letters and numbers, with an additional 26 lower case letters, is the basis of communications for many people all over the world. Combinations can be used to convey or secure information, and they play a very important role in encryption and decryption of data. This data is used in computer coding, to create passwords, and in security algorithms. The almost globally recognized Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals also make written material easy to read and interpret, with the addition of standardized punctuation.

In computing, alphanumeric characters take up six bits of information, rather than eight bits, which is typical with many other information storage systems. For this reason, less storage space is required for the information, making it more efficient. Especially when material is in a primarily textual form, using six bit storage systems makes more sense than eight bit codes, such as ASCII.

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Mary McMahon
By Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a EasyTechJunkie researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Discussion Comments
By anon104115 — On Aug 15, 2010

how do i use a letter in alphanumeric?

By anon99981 — On Jul 28, 2010

How to create an alphanumeric e-mail address and give an example.

By anon81422 — On May 01, 2010

how do i create an alphanumeric id?

i am trying a bunch of combos using lower and bigger case letters, numbers, and the symbols and it still isn't working. an example would be helpful.

By anon64891 — On Feb 10, 2010

how do i create an alphanumeric id?

By anon49213 — On Oct 18, 2009

how do you write a name in alphanumeric?

By anon39924 — On Aug 05, 2009

how do i create an alphanumeric e-mail address?

By anon26360 — On Feb 12, 2009

how to create a alphanumeric e-mail address?

and give me a one ex-

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a...

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