A word that describes both "encoding" and "decoding"?

Question

I am looking for a word that describes both of these activities, however the word coding does not seem to be suitable.

Likewise with encryption and decryption, cryption does not work well.

It's worth noting that, for practical purposes, a person who encodes/decodes digital information is often professionally called an archivist and refers to his work as archival. — HaL, Jul 31 '12 at 16:09
Where would we be without you, @Reg? (knee-deep in unclosed duplicates, I suspect! :) — FumbleFingers, Jul 31 '12 at 22:58
I agree this duplicates the related question (which asks for one "word [for] encoder and decoder functionality"). Note, the answer there correctly identifies a device that does both but doesn't answer the question asked. Should merge questions? — James Waldby - jwpat7, Aug 01 '12 at 16:55
This question is looking for a verb, the other for a noun. So they are different. There is not really a verb for "codec" or "endec", or none has been proposed so far. And no, the verb "to code" has its own meaning and is not the verb form of "codec". — donquixote, Jun 07 '16 at 05:40
I used Denc as a class name for decryption a encryption, just because I haven't seen a better alternative anywhere. — Lars Andren, Aug 14 '19 at 08:29

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 31 '12 at 15:59

20

Cryptography

is the study of encryption and decryption.

codec

is software/hardware that does both encoding and decoding.

answered Jul 31 '12 at 15:59

Mitch

3

Cryptography is the study of passing information without a third party being able to receive it. It wouldn't apply to encoding/decoding mp3s, for example. – z7sg Ѫ Jul 31 '12 at 18:21
4

Codec is defined as the library describing the way to encode and decode a format. This answer is wrong. Cryptography doesn't relate to the ACTION of encrypting or decrypting, so the extra info you added is also wrong. – Nathan C. Tresch Jul 31 '12 at 20:27
@NathanC.Tresch This answer accepted as codec is the word i was looking for. Debate about crypography TBC. – NWS Aug 01 '12 at 06:41

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 15:52

Encode means : "To translate information into code"
Decode means : "To translate code into information"

Therefore translate would be used to describe them both.

Since translate may seem vague I would suggest some synonyms: transcribe, transpose, or convert.

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 15:45

7

Would transcoding be suitable in your context ?

answered Jul 31 '12 at 15:45

George Profenza

Unfortunately the parallel construction of "transcryption" just looks like a misspelling of "transcription", which means something quite different. :/ – Marthaª Jul 31 '12 at 16:00
5

Ooh. I like transcryption. I shall find somewhere to use that and then shower disdain on those who attempt to correct it. – Andrew Leach Jul 31 '12 at 16:09
1

"encode" and "decode" mean to translate between a logical form and a storable / serialized / encrypted form of information. "transcode" means to translate between two different encoded forms of information. A transcoder usually decodes and then encodes again, in a different format. A "codec", on the other hand, translates between a decoded and an encoded format, in both directions. So it is not quite the same. – donquixote Jun 07 '16 at 05:54

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 31 '12 at 22:48

2

How about pure and simple “processing”?

edited Jul 31 '12 at 22:48

MetaEd

answered Jul 31 '12 at 20:44

Denis

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 31 '12 at 21:29

-1

Why does everyone and OP have a problem with "coding". This is the correct term for encoding and decoding. For example, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_theory

answered Jul 31 '12 at 21:29

ThePopMachine

6

Possibly because in a programming context it can cover almost everything we do. It becomes generic to the point of uselessness. – NWS Aug 01 '12 at 06:38
@NWS: The coding of a channel vs. the process of coding a program is not likely to be confused from context. The subjects aren't even of the same type (abstract idea vs. person) – ThePopMachine Aug 01 '12 at 15:54
2

In software development, it is desirable for a name to convey most of its meaning without much context, since we often work with portions of source code without examining the full context. – jpmc26 Sep 24 '16 at 01:32

5 Answers5