md`Meaning - in UTF-8 encoding - "${textstring}" is stored and transmitted as the ${ textstring.length } byte binary sequence: ${stringToByteString(textstring)} _(Conversion performed in JavaScript based on [this StackOverflow answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18729405/how-to-convert-utf8-string-to-byte-array).)_ UTF-8 is a global standard used across the Internet. Try pasting the sequence above into the "binary bits" field on [onlineutf8tools.com](https://onlineutf8tools.com/convert-binary-to-utf8). As long as the software has the UTF-8 encoding, it will correctly decode this binary sequence as "${textstring}". (Note that lower case and capital letters must be represented as different bytes.) Similarly, audio can be represented digitally by using audio encoding formats like MP3, AAC, FLAC. These formats encode the "audio information in terms of frequencies and amplitudes" ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3)). Images can also be represented digitally in binary - we'll go over how shortly. Interestingly - _the same byte can have different meanings depending on the encoding!_ For example, the byte 0100 1111 might mean the character "O" in UTF-8 - but it also represents the unsigned integer 79. The computer processes each bit in this context - according to its 'data type'. In strongly-typed programming languages, when a variable is declared, developers need to declare the data type of that variable - uint, float, char, bool. Dynamically-typed languages like JavaScript and Python are more flexible, can be easier to code in, but are more error prone. This is because variables can be reassigned to a value of another type - and the computer can *usually* adapt accordingly. For the encoded information to be useful, it needs to be parsed and interpreted by a computer processor. This would include displaying the characters or images visually on a screen, or sending a signal to an audio speaker that would create the sounds encoded. `