Base 64 Encoding

Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme that represents binary data in an ASCII string format. It is often used to encode data so it can be safely transmitted over text-based systems such as email, URLs, or JSON, which may not handle binary data well.

Base64 is used to prevent degradation of the message during the transmission: the data is not corrupted by the journey on Internet.

Base64 is not encryption. It does not secure the data: there is no protection against reading by a third party, unless they are not aware of Base64 itself.

Base64 is not related to the notion of mathematical base, such as base 10, binary, octal or hexadecimal.

<?php

    $phpString = 'Well, I can say: 你好！' ;

    $encoded = base64_encode($phpString);
    print $encoded.PHP_EOL;

    $decoded = base64_decode($encoded);
    print $decoded.PHP_EOL;

?>

Documentation

See also Php Base64 encode/decode – best practices and use cases.

Related : UUencode Encoding, Base, php://filter, RSA