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What is Barcode Barcodes encode numeric or textual information in a printable, machine-readable form. The use of barcodes can significantly reduce cost of warehouse management and inventory. Two main forms of barcodes exist today: Linear or normal barcodes encode data over a horizontal stretch of space or one dimension. This kind of barcode typically encodes between four and forty digits or characters. So called area codes encode data in two dimensions, resulting in much higher density which allows for up to three thousand characters to be encoded. Most linear barcode types will only encode numbers or digits. Two notable exceptions are Code 39 and Code 128 which can also encode alphanumeric characters like letters. Two dimensional area codes usually encode numbers, letters and special characters. The most common linear barcode type is Code EAN which is used to encode article numbers in retail. It's used throughout the world with the notable exception of the USA which uses a