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Base64 is an encoding and decoding technique used to convert binary data to an American Standard for Information Interchange (ASCII) text format, and vice versa. It is used to transfer data over a medium that only supports ASCII formats, such as email messages on Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) and Extensible Markup Language (XML) data.
Base64 is also known as Base64 Content-Transfer-Encoding.
Techopedia Explains Base64
Base64 is a binary to text encoding scheme that is generally used to transfer content-based messages over the Internet. It works by dividing every three bits of binary data into six bit units. The newly created data is represented in a 64-radix numeral system and as seven-bit ASCII text. Because each bit is divided into two bits, the converted data is 33 percent, or one-third, larger than the original data.
Like binary data, Base64 encoded resultant data is not human readable.
