What is EBCDIC Code?

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The EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) is an alphanumeric code used in digital systems to represent alphanumeric characters, such as letters, numbers, symbols, etc.

EBCDIC is pronounced as "eb-si-dik". It is an 8-bit binary coded used for representing alphanumeric data in digital systems.

Here, we will explain the EBCDIC code in detail along with its advantages and applications.

What is EBCDIC Code?

EBCDIC stands for Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. It is an 8-bit binary code used in digital systems to represent alphanumeric data in digital form.

Since, it is an 8-bit code, hence it can represent total 28 = 256 possible characters. Therefore, it is able to represent 128 more characters than standard ASCII code, which is a 7-bit code.

The EBCDIC code was developed by IBM (International Business Machine) and is mainly used in IBMs mainframe computer systems. EBCDIC code was primarily designed to be used in larger computers for alphanumeric data transmission.

Although the EBCDIC code can represent 256 characters, but some of the bit combinations in the EBCDIC code are unassigned.

EBCDIC Code Table

The following highlights the EBCDIC code in their decimal and hexadecimal format −

The EBCDIC Code
Decimal Hexadecimal Character Decimal Hexadecimal Character
0 00 NUL 128 80
1 01 SOH 129 81 a
2 02 STX 130 82 b
3 03 ETX 131 83 c
4 04 132 84 d
5 05 HT 133 85 e
6 06 134 86 f
7 07 DEL 135 87 g
8 08 136 88 h
9 09 137 89 i
10 0A 138 8A
11 0B VT 139 8B
12 0C FF 140 8C
13 0D CR 141 8D
14 0E SO 142 8E
15 0F SI 143 8F
16 10 DLE 144 90
17 11 145 91 j
18 12 146 92 k
19 13 147 93 l
20 14 148 94 m
21 15 149 95 n
22 16 BS 150 96 o
23 17 151 97 p
24 18 CAN 152 98 q
25 19 EM 153 99 r
26 1A 154 9A
27 1B 155 9B
28 1C IFS 156 9C
29 1D IGS 157 9D
30 1E IRS 158 9E
31 1F IUS 159 9F
32 20 160 A0
33 21 161 A1 ~
34 22 162 A2 s
35 23 163 A3 t
36 24 164 A4 u
37 25 LF 165 A5 v
38 26 ETB 166 A6 w
39 27 ESC 167 A7 x
40 28 168 A8 y
41 29 169 A9 z
42 2A 170 AA
43 2B 171 AB
44 2C 172 AC
45 2D ENQ 173 AD
46 2E ACK 174 AE
47 2F BEL 175 AF
48 30 176 B0
49 31 177 B1
50 32 SYN 178 B2
51 33 179 B3
52 34 180 B4
53 35 181 B5
54 36 182 B6
55 37 EOT 183 B7
56 38 184 B8
57 39 185 B9
58 3A 186 BA
59 3B 187 BB
60 3C 188 BC
61 3D NAK 189 BD
62 3E 190 BE
63 3F SUB 191 BF
64 40 space 192 C0 {
65 41 193 C1 A
66 42 194 C2 B
67 43 195 C3 C
68 44 196 C4 D
69 45 197 C5 E
70 46 198 C6 F
71 47 199 C7 G
72 48 200 C8 H
73 49 201 C9 I
74 4A [ 202 CA
75 4B . 203 CB
76 4C < 204 CC
77 4D ( 205 CD
78 4E + 206 CE
79 4F | ! 207 CF
80 50 & 208 D0 }
81 51 209 D1 J
82 52 210 D2 K
83 53 211 D3 L
84 54 212 D4 M
85 55 213 D5 N
86 56 214 D6 O
87 57 215 D7 P
88 58 216 D8 Q
89 59 217 D9 R
90 5A ! ] 218 DA
91 5B $ 219 DB
92 5C * 220 DC
93 5D ) 221 DD
94 5E ; 222 DE
95 5F ^ 223 DF
96 60 - 224 E0 \
97 61 / 225 E1
98 62 226 E2 S
99 63 227 E3 T
100 64 228 E4 U
101 65 229 E5 V
102 66 230 E6 W
103 67 231 E7 X
104 68 232 E8 Y
105 69 233 E9 Z
106 6A | 234 EA
107 6B , 235 EB
108 6C % 236 EC
109 6D _ 237 ED
110 6E > 238 EE
111 6F ? 239 EF
112 70 240 F0 0
113 71 241 F1 1
114 72 242 F2 2
115 73 243 F3 3
116 74 244 F4 4
117 75 245 F5 5
118 76 246 F6 6
119 77 247 F7 7
120 78 248 F8 8
121 79 249 F9 9
122 7A : 250 FA
123 7B # 251 FB
124 7C @ 252 FC
125 7D 253 FD
126 7E = 254 FE
127 7F " 255 FF

Characteristics of EBCDIC Code

The following are some key characteristics of the EBCDIC code −

  • EBCDIC code uses 8-bit binary coding scheme to represent alphanumeric data.
  • EBCDIC code provides characters and symbols used in the field of commerce and finance. Hence, it is well-suited for business data processing applications.
  • EBCDIC code was primarily designed to use in IBM mainframe systems and it was compatible with punched card systems.
  • EBCDIC code has a non-sequential binary assignment of characters.
  • EBCDIC code is not directly compatible with ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) due to its non-sequential binary assignment.
  • EBCDIC code is a better choice for record-oriented processing in which the data is organized into fixed-length records like in batch processing.

Limitations of EBCDIC Code

However, the EBCDIC code has several advantages. But it also has some limitations as given below −

  • EBCDIC code is not compatible with many modern computing systems that use ASCII or Unicode character encoding schemes.
  • EBCDIC code has some unassigned binary patterns.
  • EBCDIC code is less efficient character encoding standard in terms of storage utilization.
  • EBCDIC code is not compatible with internet standards and protocols.

Applications of EBCDIC Code

The EBCDIC code is less common in modern computers and digital systems. But it has applications in some old digital systems. Here are some key applications of EBCDIC code −

  • EBCDIC was mainly used in mainframe computers used in the field of finance and banking.
  • EBCDIC code was also used in mainframe systems employed in government and healthcare sector.
  • EBCDIC code is used in control systems used in manufacturing industries.
  • Systems used for batch processing also use EBCDIC code for data representation.

Conclusion

EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) is an 8-bit binary code used for digital representation of alphanumeric data such as letters, numbers, symbols, and control characters.

The EBCDIC code was mainly designed for the mainframe systems developed by IBM for finance and banking sector. Due to some limitations like incompatibility with ASCII code, it is becoming less popular. In modern computing systems, the EBCDIC code is not being used.

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