Base256 Encoding in Unicode (Base256U)

This repo contains a C++ sample implementation to represent binary data in base256 encoding by using Unicode characters. Typical use cases are safe passwords, digital keys, file checksums, identifiers, hashes and very big numbers.

What is Base256U?

Each byte is represented by exactly one Unicode character and vice versa each Unicode character represents exactly one byte. The mapping of Byte vs Unicode is quite simple:

Byte	Unicode	Description
0-9	'0'-'9'	10 digits
10-35	'A'-'Z'	26 uppercase letters
36-61	'a'-'z'	26 lowercase letters
62-255	'À', 'Á', 'Â', ...	194 umlaut characters

✔️ Advantages of Base256U

Ultra compact: e.g. 16 characters like 5iŗ3īÛźUKĺŰÑÞbŒŜ can encode 128-bit of data.
Easy to recognize due to the umlaut characters.
Safe to use: nearly impossible to remember, so people are forced to copy & paste it.
Supports double-clicking for comfortable copy & paste (all Unicode characters are non-terminal ones).
Supports all Unicode versions due to highest code point 385 (requires Unicode 1.0 or higher).
Easy to implement: see the source code in main.cpp

🔧 Installation

Requires cmake and a C++ compiler. Then execute in a terminal window:

> git clone https://github.com/fleschutz/Base256U  # or download und unzip the ZIP file (click the green button)
> cd Base256U
> cmake .
> make
> ./base256

Examples of Base256U

64 bits: ŖÔńĪ07ėñ, RŧáÃĆĶ2Õ
128 bits: ĺËĀ8Ę3ĩŔá0VzœĹŀî, ŽTĭŊõł3ÐÑęGųĢÛąĶ, 5iŗ3īÛźUKĺŰÑÞbŒŜ, ņĨqvLŀŠsůØŸÙGCŰƀ
256 bits: ħŅŹĬšÝŋţĀĸĻňőċqâĮŹúŪßWPŞÓā8æťÁüċ, Ě2ħŤRŧáÃĆĶ2ÕŀSŜöĄPŞÜbŰ06lŔùö9ĬŒģ

Other Encoding Standards

Base	Name	Alphabet	Example
2	Bit	0 or 1	0101101
8	Octal	0-7	7734124
10	Decimal	0-9	3849834
16	Hexadecimal	0-9,a-f (case insensitive)	7a9ff34
36	Base36	0-9,A-Z	7RT99XQ
45	Base45	0-9,A-Z,space,$,%,*,+,-,.,/,:	8X%/9:A
64	Base64	A-Z,a-z,0-9,+,-	zA8r+8q

How long does it take to break a random key or password?

Trying every possible key or password (called a 'brute force attack') at one billion attempts per second:

Key Size	Key Example	Maximum Time Needed
40-bit	`ŞŰÀ8Œ`	about 9 minutes
56-bit	`ŖÔńĪ7ėñ`	about a year
128-bit	`ĤŗwĹĦñŧīĳēaqöĜĖŅ`	about 5,783,128,169,837,158,197,871 years
256-bit	`ÿőMêŽĖiĘśŃäŞŰÀ8ŒŽĎäPfSŖÔńiĪ7ėëŷò`	never, for all practical purposes

📧 Feedback

Send your email feedback to: markus.fleschutz [at] gmail.com

🤝 License & Copyright

This open source project is licensed under the CC0 license. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

fleschutz / Base256U

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