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Checksum code

Description

An error-detecting block code that appends a message with a string, called a checksum, that depends in some way on the message.

Protection

The checksum can be calculated from the message via a formula and verified against the appended checksum in order to flag certain misread messages.

Notes

See Ref. [1] for a history.

Member of code lists

Primary Hierarchy

Classical Domain
Error-correcting code (ECC)
Block code
Parents
Block code
Checksum code
Children
Cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code
\([n,n-1,2]_q\) \(q\)-ary parity-check code
The \(q\)-ary parity check code is a simple example of a checksum code, with the parity of the message being the checksum.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN) code
Universal product code (UPC)

References

[1]
D. Savir and G. J. Laurer, “The characteristics and decodability of the Universal Product Code symbol”, IBM Systems Journal 14, 16 (1975) DOI
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Zoo Code ID: checksum

Cite as:
“Checksum code”, The Error Correction Zoo (V. V. Albert & P. Faist, eds.), 2025. https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/checksum
BibTeX:
@incollection{eczoo_checksum, title={Checksum code}, booktitle={The Error Correction Zoo}, year={2025}, editor={Albert, Victor V. and Faist, Philippe}, url={https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/checksum} }
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Permanent link:
https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/checksum

Cite as:

“Checksum code”, The Error Correction Zoo (V. V. Albert & P. Faist, eds.), 2025. https://errorcorrectionzoo.org/c/checksum

Github: https://github.com/errorcorrectionzoo/eczoo_data/edit/main/codes/classical/properties/block/checksum.yml.