HEY QUESTERS,

        We all have encountered and used Barcodes & QR Codes some time or the other. It has a wide range of uses and is really helpful in small tasks. So let's talk a little bit about one of the most underrated innovative technologies which silently makes our lives easier.

WHAT IS A BARCODE?

Mostly we have seen barcodes on various products when we go shopping for any kind of product(eatables, books, electronics, etc). A label is attached to the product which has lots of black & white vertical lines, which the shopkeeper scans while billing your products. As soon as the barcode is scanned the product is added to your bill.

HOW DOES THE BARCODE WORK?

It stores numeric data(0-9) in binary form and once the data is stored, you can read the information in it by scanning it. For every number, 7 vertical lines are chosen. Every number has a unique set of patterns. So whenever the barcode reader throws a beam of laser, the ray that hits the white portion reflects back and returns to the reader, and the ray that hits the black region is absorbed. When the laser returns after reflection, it is represented as 1, and where the ray doesn't return, it is represented as 0.

USES

In a mall, there are multiple types of items, and keeping a record of each and every product can be really difficult. Here the barcode comes as a big relief. The barcode stores information about the product like company name, origin, price, etc. If a product is bought, the total number of that product is decreased by one and added to your bill automatically when the code is scanned.

DISADVANTAGES

1. If the barcode gets erased or damaged, we won't be able to extract information from it and it can't be restored or fixed. We all must have seen this when our books get old, the barcode gets erased.
2. The amount of information that can be stored is really small.

WHAT IS QR CODE?

QR Code stands for Quick Response Code. These are in square shapes with 3 big squares on the 3 corners of the code and in the rest of the area, there is a really weird black and white dots pattern. You all must have seen them for UPI payments, documents, tickets, websites, etc.

HOW DO QR CODES WORK?

The 3 big squares at the corners are there for alignment, and the rest of the area inside it contains numbers. Now if an area is black that means the numbers in that area are selected. This works on ASCII Codes. ASCII Codes are such codes in which each character has a specific numeric value. Eg: ‘A’ is denoted by 65 in ASCII. So the numbers in the black marked area of a small region mean the sum of the numbers which are marked black. That would be converted to ASCII values to get the information.

USES

QR codes have wider usage than barcodes. There are endless possibilities with QR codes, but some of the most common ones are - UPI Payments, Redirecting to websites, Password & Information sharing.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

It overcomes the disadvantages of barcodes i.e. can store more information and even if it is a bit damaged, the information can be recovered and it can be restored/fixed.

But it comes with its own caveats. It can be easily misused by hackers for malware spreading and information stealing.

I hope I was able to provide some in-depth information about one of the most underdogs of technology which silently makes our lives easier. Like/Dislike the way you felt about the same. Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below & I'll see you in the next one.

REGARDS

RHITWEEK SANTRA