A set of
algorithms for converting files into a series of 7-bit
ASCII characters that can be transmitted over the
Internet. Originally,
uuencode stood for
Unix-to-Unix encode, but it has since become a universal protocol used to transfer files between different platforms such as
Unix,
Windows, and
Macintosh. Uuencoding is especially popular for sending
e-mail attachments. Nearly all e-mail applications support uuencoding for sending attachments and
uudecoding for receiving attachments.
Another popular encoding algorithm is BinHex , which is often used for transferring Macintosh files, such as PICT graphics files.