𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝟲𝟰 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀

𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝟲𝟰 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀

You use Base64 in CSS and JWT tokens. You need to know how it works.

Base64 turns binary data into a text string. It uses a 64 character set. This includes A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, and /. The = sign handles padding.

Base64 is encoding. It is not encryption. Never use it for security.

How it works:

• Split binary data into 3 byte groups.
• Divide these into four 6 bit chunks.
• Map each chunk to a character.

Common uses:

• Email attachments.
• Images in HTML and CSS.
• JWT tokens.
• API responses.
• Basic Auth headers.

Coding examples: Use btoa to encode strings. Use atob to decode strings. In Node.js, use data.toString('base64').

Base64url is a special version for URLs. It replaces + with - and / with _. It removes padding. Use this for JWTs.

Keep these facts in mind:

• Output is 33% larger than the original.
• Use it for text only channels.
• Use Base64url for URLs.

Source: https://dev.to/moksh/base64-encoding-explained-a-practical-guide-for-developers-49hh