ASCII stands for and what is its purpose?

• A. American System for Character Interchange; encrypts data
• B. American Standard Code for Information Integrity; stores images
• C. American Standard Code for Information Interchange; encodes characters into numeric values
• D. American Standard Character Set for Intercommunication; converts text to uppercase

Answer: (C)

Characters need to be represented as numbers so computers can store and move text. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, and its purpose is to encode characters into numeric values. It assigns a unique 7-bit number to each character, giving 128 values that cover English letters, digits, punctuation, and control codes like line feed. This encoding lets different devices and software interpret text consistently. An extended 8-bit form later added more symbols, but the core idea remains encoding text into numeric values for interchange. So the best choice describes that exact acronym and its function. Other options use incorrect acronyms or describe tasks ASCII doesn’t perform (encryption, image storage, or forcing uppercase).