Alphanumeric

Definition - What does Alphanumeric mean?

Alphanumeric refers to a character set with alphabetic characters (A-Z) and numerals (0-9). Sometimes other characters are also included in an alphanumeric character set.

Alphanumeric data is useful for storing text and website addresses.

Alphanumeric is also known as alphameric.

Techopedia explains Alphanumeric

In computing, a stored alphanumeric character with a six-bit length is smaller than a stored American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) code character with an eight-bit length.

For increased security, computer users are encouraged to use alphanumeric characters when setting up passwords, usernames and other identifiers. An alphanumeric code is harder to break than a code of all alphabetic characters or all numbers. Special characters and upper- and lower-case alphabetic characters are included in certain cases.

Popular White Papers

Techopedia Newsletter Sign-Up

Get Techopedia delivered to your inbox!