Type:
Module
The Base64 module provides for the encoding (#encode64, strict_encode64, urlsafe_encode64) and decoding (#decode64, strict_decode64, urlsafe_decode64) of binary data using a Base64 representation.
Example
A simple encoding and decoding.
require "base64"
enc = Base64.encode64('Send reinforcements')
# -> "U2VuZCByZWluZm9yY2VtZW50cw==\n"
plain = Base64.decode64(enc)
# -> "Send reinforcements"
The purpose of using base64 to encode data is that it translates any binary data into purely printable characters.