I’m curious to know how an invented code (e.g. Morse, Braille, the “10-4” code) comes into being, what considerations are there, and how does it get polished to “perfection” (nobody makes changes to it). Or maybe there are no guidelines, maybe a code is good if it satisfies some criteria, if so, what are these criteria?
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There’s actually a whole field of math known as [coding theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_theory) devoted to answering what makes a good code.
There are a lot of traits that you might want in an encoding. Which you want depends on the purpose of the code. Some examples:
* Short (you don’t want to use 1000 letters just to say “Hi”)
* Unambiguous (so “Attack at dawn” and “Hold position” don’t have the same encoding)
* Resistant to noise (so a flipped bit doesn’t change your meaning)
* Hard to decode without a key (so you can log into your bank account, but no one else can)
Morse code, for example, is designed to be as short as possible using only dots and dashes. The NATO phonetic alphabet is designed such that regardless of accent and staticky radio signal, the letters are still distinguishable.
Which codes become popular is mostly a matter of timing and historical accident.
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