Bar Code

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What Does Bar Code Mean?

A bar code is an optical and machine-readable form of data used to identify objects. A bar code allows a machine to retrieve a great deal of information about an object as soon as the object is identified through a unique visual code format created by drawing adjacent lines with variable widths and spaces. Bar codes were originally linear, one-dimensional representations of objects. Later, advanced two-dimensional data representations appeared in forms like dots, rectangles and other two-dimensional geometric shapes.

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Techopedia Explains Bar Code

Bar codes were initially introduced as a method of identifying railroad cars. Later, bar codes and bar-code scanners were established as grocery store checkout system components, allowing easy pricing and data entry. Bar code components are cost-effective and efficient. Thousands of items can be quickly and easily scanned and priced.

Bar codes are read by an optical scanner.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.