IBM System/34 - EBCDIC

EBCDIC

The Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code is the IBM mainframe counterpart of ASCII, the American Standard Code For Interchange of Information. On the PC side, the 8" diskette disappeared with the TRS-80 Model II Business Computer; the 5¼" diskette became the IBM PC standard in 1981 and the 3½" diskette was first introduced by IBM with the announcement of the PC Convertible in 1986.

One glaring difference between EBCDIC and ASCII is the fact that ASCII numbers sort to the top and EBCDIC numbers sort to the bottom. Another is signed data. EBCDIC has ten negative digits (D0 to D9) and ten positive digits (F0 to F9). So, literally, -123 becomes F1F2D3 which in text is equal to "12L".