Since an encryption key does not have to be text but raw bytes it is sometimes necessary to store it in a file or database, which Base64 comes in handy for. Hashes are so often seen in Base64 that many people mistake Base64 itself as a hash.

Converting the resulting bytes into Base64 makes it much easier to display the hash especially when you are comparing a checksum for integrity. Hashes are one-way functions that transform a block of bytes into another block of bytes of a fixed size such as 128bit or 256bit (SHA/MD5). So to make string length multiple of 3, we must add 2 bit padding to make length= 6. String to be encoded : вЂњabcdвЂќ Length=4, it's not multiple of 3.

Covert decimal characters to base64 using base64 chart.

Point to be noted : Length of the string should be in multiple of 3. Now letвЂ™s dive into how BASE64 encoding works. In C and C++, this 'null' character shows the end of a string.

The problem with binary data is that it contains null characters which in some languages like C,C++ represent end of character string so sending binary data in raw form containing NULL bytes will stop a file from being fully read and lead in a corrupt data. So, to tackle this problem BASE64 came along. When these attachments are sent over internet (which is basically in the form of binary data), the probability of binary data getting corrupt is high in its raw form. Years ago, when mailing functionality was introduced, so that was utterly text based, as the time passed, need for attachments like image and media (audio,video etc) came into existence.

Base64 encoding explained