Bar Code Definition

In our quest to classify and categorize all possible objects and save this information in databases, human beings have created a tool that crosses borders and that, in a way, has become an emblem of the era in which we live: the code of bars.

Definition

As its name suggests, the barcode consists of an image composed of a series of vertical stripes (bars) that, read by the appropriate scanning device (barcode reader) provide information about the product you are going to associated.

This information is divided between that contained in the barcode itself, and the database to which the number contained in said code can lead, and that human beings can read in its lower part.

Two-dimensional QR codes would be the same family than barcodes, albeit in two dimensions rather than just one, and intended to contain different information, usually a link to a web address.

The digits of a barcode are grouped into four different segments: the first two correspond to the country identifier, while the following 5 to 8 identify the company maker.

The last digit is a control digit, in order to verify that the code is correct, and what is left in the middle of this and the identifier of the manufacturing company, is put by the latter to identify its product concrete.

Applications

Multiple, although the main one is the control of merchandise and stocks. Bar codes can be quickly read by a scanner, and the device it is on connected, search the relative information in a database, performing stock control relevant.

Thus, for example, when we go to the supermarket, the staff that attends the checkout passes every Article by the scanner, which reads your barcode and provides the unit price, with which the cashier sews You only have to enter the units, and not only does the final price of the purchase appear, but once carried out the transaction, the units purchased are discounted from the store's stock.

Likewise, in the case of a clothing store, the garments can be labeled with a barcode that allows us to know more about their composition and price.

Thanks to the low cost of printing barcode labels, it is a suitable tool for the classification of all kinds of properties.

The future: the QR

Currently reserved almost exclusively to communicate web addresses and other resources available online, their versatility allows them to be read using a smartphone camera.

They are probably not going to replace traditional barcodes, at least not immediately, since currently the reading through the scanner not through the camera, but time will tell what happens later.

In addition, they can contain more information on their own than the traditional barcode.

Photos: iStock - Vladan Milisavljevic / Pleasureofart

Barcode Topics