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In programming, Base64 is a group of binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data (more specifically a sequence of 8-bit bytes) in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding. Each non-final Base64 digit represents exactly 6 bits of data. Three 8-bit bytes (i.e., a total of 24 bits) can therefore be represented by four 6-bit Base64 digits.
Common to all binary-to-text encoding schemes, Base64 is designed to carry data stored in binary formats across channels that only reliably support text content. Base64 is particularly prevalent on the World Wide Web[1] where its uses include the ability to embed image files or other binary assets inside textual assets such as HTML and CSS files.[2]
Base64 is also widely used for sending e-mail attachments. This is required because SMTP in its original form was designed to transport 7 bit ASCII characters only. This encoding causes an overhead of 33–36% (33% by the encoding itself, up to 3% more by the inserted line breaks).