Richard Hamming

How do we fix mistakes in data without starting over?

Image: Edward Larsson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Richard Hamming

How do we fix mistakes in data without starting over?

Imagine sending an important text message, but it gets scrambled by a noisy phone connection, with some letters missing or jumbled.

Think of Hamming code as a clever way to add extra information to your message so that even if some letters get messed up, you can still figure out the original message.

Example

If you send "HELLO" with extra letters like "H", "E", "L", "L", "O", "X", "Y", "Z", you can spot missing letters and still get "HELLO".

Remember this

Hamming code helps us correct errors in data transmission without needing to resend the entire message.

Related concepts

Swipe through 100 ML concepts daily

Open Pocket Polymath