Management Information System (MIS) Practice Exam

Which character encoding format represents symbols in binary form, based on the English alphabet?

1. MIME

2. ASCII

3. UTF

4. UCS

The correct answer is: ASCII

The option representing symbols in binary form based on the English alphabet is ASCII. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, and it is one of the most widely implemented character encoding schemes. It uses a 7-bit binary number to represent characters, which allows for 128 unique symbols, including standard English letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numerals, punctuation marks, and control characters. This encoding format is essential for text data processing and communication between devices because it standardizes how text is represented in binary form, making it interoperable between different systems and applications. ASCII's simplicity and efficiency have made it a foundational technology in computing and telecommunications. While the other options relate to character encoding, they either encompass broader ranges of characters or operate differently. MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) pertains to a specification for formatting non-text attachments and does not directly encode characters. UTF (Unicode Transformation Format) is a character encoding that supports a wider range of characters from various languages and symbols beyond the English alphabet, extending to thousands of characters. UCS (Universal Character Set) is a part of Unicode, which also covers a vast array of characters, making it more comprehensive than ASCII. ASCII's specificity to the English alphabet and its binary representation are what make it