Encode, or encrypt, means to convert data or some physical quantity into a given format (e.g., ROT-13). Decode, or decrypt, means to convert code into ordinary language. For example, before you send a password to someone via e-mail, you would first encrypt it so that it is not easily readable. When the recipient opens your e-mail, they would need to decrypt the password before being able to use it. If my password was saturday and I encrypted it using ROT-13, the result would be fngheqnl. Make sense?
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