Bar Code

The special identification code printed as a set of vertical bars of differing widths on books, grocery products, and other merchandise. Used for rapid, error-free input in such facilities as libraries, hospitals, and grocery stores, bar codes represent binary information that can be read by an optical scanner. The coding can include numbers, letters, or a combination of the two; some codes include built-in error checking and can be read in either direction.
A pattern of wide and narrow bars printed on paper or a similar material. A computer reads the bar code by scanning it with a laser beam or with a wand that contains a light source and a photocell. The most familiar bar code is the Universal Product Code (Figure 26), used with cash registers in supermarkets, but bar codes have been utilized to encode many kinds of data, including complete computer programs. Circular bar codes are sometimes used on boxes or pieces of luggage that may be scanned from many different directions.

Sources:

⠀ Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms (Vol. 1) John C. Rigdon, 2016 – 1471 c. – 135

⠀ Dictionary of computer and Internet terms / Douglas A. Downing, Michael A. Covington, Melody Mauldin Covington. — 10th ed. – 561 c. – 50