The process of encoding converts information from a source into symbols for communication or storage.

The invention of writing, which converted spoken language into visual symbols, extended the range of communication across space and time. But speech limits the range of communication to the distance a voice can carry and limits the audience to those present when the speech is uttered. An early example is an invention of language, which enabled a person, through speech, to communicate what they thought, saw, heard, or felt to others. In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information-such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture-into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication channel or storage in a storage medium. JSTOR ( March 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

This article needs additional citations for verification.

Encoding in communication