Coding – Decoding

Reasoning is intended to assess a person’s logical capacity or competence. Coding and decoding are two of the most fundamental concepts in reasoning. These are among the most typical parts of competitive tests explicitly developed for recruiting procedures and higher education. Many applicants find coding–decoding and reasoning problems challenging, thus avoiding tackling these scoring questions, losing quick points. With the correct understanding and ample practice, these questions are easy to solve.

Coding – Decoding

Coding is a logical reasoning section utilised to encode words and numbers in specified patterns or codes employing specific rules and regulations. Decoding is converting patterns from given forms into their original forms.

Advantages of Learning Coding – Decoding

There are several requirements and advantages of learning coding and decoding. Coding and decoding are critical in competitive exams. Every career necessitates the adoption of specific skills. Aptitude abilities are the basic skills required to obtain a job. Reasoning skills play a vital part in qualifying for subsequent stages.

At the moment, every job has an entrance examination in which the applicant’s talents are evaluated. Every entrance test includes an aptitude round loaded with these types of problems. As a result, coding plays an essential part in such jobs. Every organisation is focusing more on reasoning abilities to find new candidates.

These coding and decoding techniques also aid in the improvement of knowledge and the enhancement of your competencies through logical thinking.

Types of Coding and Decoding

Let’s examine types of coding and decoding techniques and look at some coding and decoding questions.

Letter Coding

In this coding and decoding technique, letters of a word are represented through another set of letters in a fixed format as per the question. All the letters in the word are coded and later decoded according to one specified rule. The candidate has to identify the pattern used in the coding to decode the question. Consider the following example:

Example: If we express CODE as PBQR, how can we express STAR similarly?

Solution: In the given example, CODE is expressed as PBQR. This means that each letter is represented in the form of its opposite letter in the alphabet list.

So, if C is P, O is B, D is Q, and E is R, we consider the opposite alphabets for representing STAR in the same way. So, S is F, T is G, A is N, and R is E. Thus, STAR is expressed as FGNE.

Number Coding

Through the number coding technique, we represent a word in the form of numbers by assigning specific numbers to all letters in the word. Each number is assigned as per a set of rules used to decode the word again. Consider this example:

Example: If CLIMB is represented as 3 12 9 13 2, how do we represent the word FIRST?

Solution: In the given coding-decoding example, CLIMB is represented as 3 12 9 13 2. This means that C is 3, L is 12, I is 9, M is 13, and B is 2.

Looking at the coding, we understand that each alphabet is represented according to its position in the English alphabet. Thus, we represent FIRST similarly, where F is 6, I is 9, R is 18, S is 19, and T is 20. So, FIRST is represented as 6 9 18 19 20.

Substitution Coding

In the substitution coding method, each entity of the question is assigned a code name. To decode this, the same coding pattern is used in reverse. Consider the following example:

Example: If a book is “table”, table is “chair”, chair is “pen”, and pen is “book”, what is the object that is made of pages?

Answer: We know that a book is made of several pages. So, according to the given example, a book is represented as a table. Thus, the correct answer is “table”.

Mixed Word Coding

In this form of coding, some statements are presented in the coded language, and the code for the specific phrase is requested. Any two messages with the same term are chosen to examine such codes. That would be the primary code phrase. Consider the following example:

Example: In a code, “bright red flowers” is written as ae mn rt, “red brick wall” is written as mn pd lo, and “bright wall flowers” is written as ae lo rt. What is the code for wall?

Solution: We take the common words from the given phrases to find the code for “wall”. Taking the first and second phrases, “bright red flowers” is written as ae mn rt, and “red brick wall” is written as mn pd lo. The common word is red, and the common code is mn. So, the code for red is mn. Consider the following two phrases: “red brick wall” is written as mn pd lo, and “bright wall flowers” is written as ae lo rt. The common word in the two phrases is wall, and the common code is lo. So, the code for “wall” is lo.

Conclusion

Coding is encrypting a word or a number using a specific code or sequence consisting of a set of standards. Decoding is converting a pattern into its original state from specified codes. Coding is thus a means of delivering a message across sender and receiver that a third person cannot understand or interpret. The coding and decoding test is designed to assess a test-ability taker’s ability to discern a particular phrase or message by cracking or decoding the encryption. As the name implies, coding and decoding questions require applicants to decode a problem or code provided in the sentence and respond to questions according to the code.