How Computers Read Our World: From Letters to Emojis

Have you ever wondered how your phone or computer knows which letter or emoji to show when you type? It’s all thanks to something called binary code — just ones and zeros — that computers use to understand everything!

Binary code is the fundamental language of computers because they use tiny switches that are either ON or OFF, which correspond perfectly to 1s and 0s. This simple system lets computers store and process all kinds of information, no matter how complex.

Think of it like Morse code, but instead of dots and dashes, it’s just on/off signals (ones and zeros). Every letter, number, and even emoji has a unique binary code that tells the computer what to display.

Back in the day, computers needed a simple way to represent letters and numbers using a binary code. That’s where ASCII (pronounced “ask-ee”) comes in. ASCII uses 7 or 8 bits (that’s 7 or 8 zeros and ones in a row) to represent characters like A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, and common symbols like ! and ?.

ASCII was created in the 1960s and became the first widely-used standard for encoding text characters so computers could “talk” to each other. It covers basic English letters, digits, and some punctuation marks, enough to run simple programs and display text messages.

For example, the letter A in ASCII is 01000001.

Try this: Imagine you see the binary number 01001000 on your screen. Using ASCII, this means the letter H!

But ASCII only covers English letters and a few symbols: what about emojis or characters from other languages? That’s where Unicode comes in. Unicode is a much bigger system that can represent thousands of characters: including emojis like 😄, 🌍, and ❤️.

Unicode uses more bits than ASCII to make sure every character, from every language and culture, gets a unique code.

Thanks to Unicode, your phone can display text and symbols correctly no matter where you are or what language you’re using: making the internet a truly global place!

When you text a friend, your phone converts your message — letters, numbers, and emojis — into binary using Unicode. Then, the message travels as ones and zeros through the network until your friend’s phone converts the binary back into readable characters.

This process happens so fast you don’t even notice it, but it’s happening every time you send a snap, post on social media, or chat in a game. The binary code travels through cables, cell towers, and satellites: all to deliver your message accurately.

So next time you send a 😂 or a 💻 emoji, remember: your phone is speaking a secret binary language to make it happen!