Comparison of Base64 and UU coding

The encoding procedures of Base64 and UUencode are quite similar, which is shown by the following figure:

Base64UUencodevgl3.gif


Because of the similar encoding procedure, there are also shared advantages and drawbacks:

Advantages Drawbacks
  • Arbitrary binary data can be represented with a 6-bit char set.
    • No problems with 7-bit char set restrictions.
    • No problems with line length restrictions or special control characters.
  • Only an enlargement of about 33 % (instead of an enlargment of 100 % when encoding to hexadecimal values).
  • No support for distribution of big files.
  • Enlargement of about 33 % (in comparison to the original file).

  • Only UUencode:
  • No EBCDIC support.
  • No defined standards.

Go to Base64 encoding

Go to UUencode