Encoding (original) (raw)
Algebra Applied Mathematics Calculus and Analysis Discrete Mathematics Foundations of Mathematics Geometry History and Terminology Number Theory Probability and Statistics Recreational Mathematics Topology
Alphabetical Index New in MathWorld
An encoding is a way of representing a number or expression in terms of another (usually simpler) one. However, multiple expressions can also be encoded as a single expression, as in, for example,
![(a,b)=1/2[(a+b)^2+3a+b]](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/images/equations/Encoding/NumberedEquation1.svg)
which encodes 
and 
uniquely as a single number.
More generally, any list of positive integers can be uniquely encoded using a Gödel number (Wolfram 2002, p. 1120).
See also
Code, Coding Theory, Gödel Number, Huffman Coding, Prüfer Code, Run-Length Encoding
Explore with Wolfram|Alpha
References
Wolfram, S. A New Kind of Science. Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media, pp. 1120-1121, 2002.
Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha
Cite this as:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Encoding." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Encoding.html