What is Base64 Encoding
Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in ASCII string format. It uses 64 printable characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /) to encode data, making it safe for transmission over text-based protocols.
Common Use Cases
- Email Attachments: MIME encoding for binary attachments in email
- Data URLs: Embedding images and files directly in HTML/CSS
- API Communication: Transmitting binary data through JSON APIs
- Configuration Files: Storing binary data in text-based config files
Implementation Details
Base64 encoding converts every 3 bytes of input into 4 characters of output, resulting in approximately 33% size increase. Padding characters (=) are used when input length isn't divisible by 3.