Message Encoding

One of the first steps to sending a message is encoding it. Written words, pictures, and spoken languages each use a unique set of codes, sounds, gestures, and/or symbols to represent the thoughts being shared. Encoding is the process of converting thoughts into the language, symbols, or sounds, for transmission. Decoding reverses this process in order to interpret the thought.

Imagine a person watching a sunset and then calling someone else to talk about how beautiful the sunset looks. To communicate the message, the sender must first convert, or encode, their thoughts and perceptions about the sunset into words. The words are spoken into the telephone using the sounds and inflections of spoken language that convey the message. On the other end of the telephone line, the person listening to the description, receives and decodes the sounds in order to visualize the image of the sunset described by the sender.

Encoding also occurs in computer communication. Encoding between hosts must be in an appropriate form for the medium. Messages sent across the network are first converted into bits by the sending host. Each bit is encoded into a pattern of sounds, light waves, or electrical impulses depending on the network media over which the bits are transmitted. The destination host receives and decodes the signals in order to interpret the message.