Base58 decoding is the reverse process of Base58 encoding. It converts a Base58-encoded string back into the original binary data. Since Base58 encoding uses a specific set of 58 characters to represent binary data, decoding involves mapping each Base58 character back to its 5-bit (or 6-bit depending on the implementation) binary representation.
How Base58 Decoding Works:
Input Base58 String: You start with the Base58-encoded string (e.g., 16ftSEQ4QqNRQzTRtHx6w7A4w4zXs77rX).
Map Characters to Base58 Alphabet: Each character in the Base58 string corresponds to a value from the Base58 alphabet.
Convert to Binary: The decoded values are mapped back to their binary representation.
Reassemble the Binary Data: Combine the binary data from each Base58 character to restore the original data.
Convert to Original Format: The final step involves converting the binary data back into the original format (such as text or file data).
Example of Base58 Decoding:
Let's decode a simple example: "2NEpoH"
Base58 Alphabet:
123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz
Map each Base58 character to its corresponding value:
2 → 1
N → 39
E → 14
p → 49
o → 50
H → 33
Reconstruct the Binary Data: Convert the values back into their binary form and combine them to get the original binary sequence.
Restore the Original Data: Once you have the binary data, you can convert it back to the original string or file.
Why is Base58 Used?
Base58 is commonly used in:
Cryptocurrency addresses: Bitcoin, for instance, uses Base58 for its addresses to avoid confusion between visually similar characters (e.g., O, 0, I, l).
Compact identifiers: It is also used in generating more compact human-readable IDs.