What is the difference between Encoding and Decoding?

There are some terms that may be a bit confusing for a lot of people. Encoding and decoding may seem similar to each other but they are highly different. Encoding means the creation of various messages that will be communicated to another person or a group of people. Decoding means that you have to interpret the meaning of the different messages.

For example, someone may give you a message but it is written in a language that not everyone will understand. It may be written in a secret code that you share with that person, you will then be decoding the message. Sometimes, you need to decode messages even if they are written in your native language because you should know how to read between the lines.

When you first hear encoding and decoding, you may assume that these two words are the same, but actually, they are not the same. Encoding means that you are going to write down or encode different things.

For example, when you are placing details, this means that you are encoding the details. Decoding implies that you are trying to figure out something. For example, you are asked to analyze a page from a story. You should decode what the words in that page are trying to say. When you can figure out what the page means, this also signifies that you have successfully decoded it.