Base64 Haven

1. Understanding the Basics

Base64 encoding converts binary data into a text format using 64 printable ASCII characters. The encoding alphabet consists of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, and /. This makes it perfect for transmitting binary data through systems that only support text.

2. Encoding Process Explained

The encoding process works by taking three bytes (24 bits) of binary data and dividing them into four 6-bit groups. Each 6-bit group is then mapped to one of 64 printable characters:

• •Values 0-25 map to uppercase letters (A-Z)
• •Values 26-51 map to lowercase letters (a-z)
• •Values 52-61 map to digits (0-9)
• •Values 62-63 map to + and / symbols
• •Padding character = is used when needed

3. Practical Implementation Examples

Here are real-world code examples for implementing Base64 encoding in different programming languages:

// Encode text to Base64
const text = "Hello World";
const encoded = btoa(text);
console.log(encoded); // SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=

// Decode Base64 to text
const decoded = atob(encoded);
console.log(decoded); // Hello World

import base64

# Encode text to Base64
text = "Hello World"
encoded = base64.b64encode(text.encode())
print(encoded)  # b'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ='

# Decode Base64 to text
decoded = base64.b64decode(encoded)
print(decoded.decode())  # Hello World