EBCDIC

EBCDIC, acronym for Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. A coding scheme developed by IBM for use with its computers as a standard method of assigning binary (numeric) values to alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, and transmission-control characters. EBCDIC is analogous to the ASCII coding scheme more or less universally accepted in the microcomputing environment. It differs in using 8 bits for coding, thus allowing 256 possible characters (in contrast to the 7 bits and 128 characters in the standard ASCII set). Although EBCDIC is not widely used with microcomputers, it is well known and internationally recognized, primarily as an IBM code for the corporation's mainframes and minicomputers.