Definitions for "Binary Data"
A file format for data encoded as a sequence of bits, but not necessarily consisting of a sequence of printable characters (text). The term is often used for executable machine code.
data that consists of more than just textual information - alphanumeric text can be represented using a limited range of ASCII codes from 32 to 127 with some of the numbers below 32 used as control codes such as 10 for linefeed and 12 for formfeed/clear screen - binary data, by contrast, uses all the codes 0 to 255 and, if it were transmitted as if it were a text file, the control codes could have all sorts of undesired effects - other techniques therefore have to be used for its transmission, e.g. uuencoding
Data that can take only one of two values, eg. Yes/no, on/off, dead/alive. See also Data types.