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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +Title: '.a2b_base64()' |
| 3 | +Description: 'Decodes base64 encoded data back into its original binary representation.' |
| 4 | +Subjects: |
| 5 | + - 'Code Foundations' |
| 6 | + - 'Computer Science' |
| 7 | + - 'Data Science' |
| 8 | +Tags: |
| 9 | + - 'Encoding' |
| 10 | + - 'Methods' |
| 11 | + - 'Modules' |
| 12 | +CatalogContent: |
| 13 | + - 'learn-python-3' |
| 14 | + - 'paths/computer-science' |
| 15 | +--- |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +The **`.a2b_base64()`** method in Python's `binascii` module decodes a string of base64 encoded data. It takes an ASCII string containing base64 encoded data and converts it back into its original binary form. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## Syntax |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +```pseudo |
| 22 | +binascii.a2b_base64(string) |
| 23 | +``` |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +**Parameters:** |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +- `string`: A bytes-like object or ASCII string containing base64-encoded data to be decoded. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +**Return value:** |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +Returns the original binary data as a `bytes` object after decoding the base64 input. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +> **Note:** If the input string is not correctly padded to a multiple of 4, a `binascii.Error` exception is raised. |
| 34 | +
|
| 35 | +## Example |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +In this example, `.a2b_base64()` decodes a base64 string representing `"Hello World!"` back into binary form: |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +```py |
| 40 | +import binascii |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +# A Base64 encoded string representing "Hello World!" |
| 43 | +encoded_string = b'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQh' |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +# Decode the Base64 string back to binary |
| 46 | +decoded_data = binascii.a2b_base64(encoded_string) |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +print(f"Original encoded string: {encoded_string}") |
| 49 | +print(f"Decoded binary data: {decoded_data}") |
| 50 | +print(f"Decoded as text: {decoded_data.decode('utf-8')}") |
| 51 | +``` |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +The output will be: |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +``` |
| 56 | +Original encoded string: b'SGVsbG8gV29ybGQh' |
| 57 | +Decoded binary data: b'Hello World!' |
| 58 | +Decoded as text: Hello World! |
| 59 | +``` |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +## Codebyte Example |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +The following example shows how `.a2b_base64()` handles both valid and invalid base64 input: |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +```codebyte/python |
| 66 | +import binascii |
| 67 | +
|
| 68 | +# Valid Base64 string for "Codecademy" |
| 69 | +encoded = b'Q29kZWNhZGVteQ==' |
| 70 | +decoded = binascii.a2b_base64(encoded) |
| 71 | +
|
| 72 | +print(f"Encoded Base64: {encoded}") |
| 73 | +print(f"Decoded data: {decoded}") |
| 74 | +print(f"Decoded text: {decoded.decode('utf-8')}") |
| 75 | +
|
| 76 | +# Example with proper padding |
| 77 | +encoded_with_padding = b'UHl0aG9u' # "Python" in Base64 |
| 78 | +decoded_python = binascii.a2b_base64(encoded_with_padding) |
| 79 | +print(f"\nAnother example:") |
| 80 | +print(f"Encoded: {encoded_with_padding}") |
| 81 | +print(f"Decoded: {decoded_python.decode('utf-8')}") |
| 82 | +
|
| 83 | +# Example with invalid padding (will cause an error) |
| 84 | +try: |
| 85 | + invalid_encoded = b'abc' # Not properly padded |
| 86 | + binascii.a2b_base64(invalid_encoded) |
| 87 | +except binascii.Error as e: |
| 88 | + print(f"\nError with invalid input 'abc': {e}") |
| 89 | +``` |
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