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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>EBCDIC</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../E.html" title="E"/><link rel="previous" href="eat-flaming-death.html" title="eat flaming death"/><link rel="next" href="ECP.html" title="ECP"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">EBCDIC</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="eat-flaming-death.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">E</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ECP.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="EBCDIC"/><dt xmlns="" id="EBCDIC"><b>EBCDIC</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/eb´s@·dik/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/eb´see`dik/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="pronunciation">/eb´k@·dik/</span>, <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p>[abbreviation, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] An
alleged character set used on IBM <a href="../D/dinosaur.html"><i class="glossterm">dinosaur</i></a>s. It
exists in at least six mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such
delights as non-contiguous letter sequences and the absence of several
ASCII punctuation characters fairly important for modern computer languages
(exactly which characters are absent varies according to which version of
EBCDIC you're looking at). IBM adapted EBCDIC from
<a href="../P/punched-card.html"><i class="glossterm">punched card</i></a> code in the early 1960s and promulgated it as a
customer-control tactic (see <a href="../C/connector-conspiracy.html"><i class="glossterm">connector conspiracy</i></a>),
spurning the already established ASCII standard. Today, IBM claims to be
an open-systems company, but IBM's own description of the EBCDIC variants
and how to convert between them is still internally classified top-secret,
burn-before-reading. Hackers blanch at the very <span class="emphasis"><em>name</em></span>
of EBCDIC and consider it a manifestation of purest
<a href="evil.html"><i class="glossterm">evil</i></a>. See also
<a href="../F/fear-and-loathing.html"><i class="glossterm">fear and loathing</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="eat-flaming-death.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../E.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ECP.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">eat flaming death </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> ECP</td></tr></table></div></body></html>