Base64 is everywhere in modern web development - from embedding images in CSS to handling JWT tokens. Yet many developers use it without really knowing what it does. This guide breaks it down simply. What is Base64? Base64 is a binary-to-text encoding scheme. It converts raw binary data into a safe ASCII string using a 64-character set: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, and /. The = character is used for padding to keep output lengths as multiples of 4. It does not encrypt data - it just makes binary safe to transmit through text-based channels. How It Works Encoding happens in three steps: Split binary data into 3-byte groups (24 bits) Divide into four 6-bit chunks Map each chunk to a Base64 character For example, the string "Man" becomes "TWFu" in Base64. Common Use Cases Email attachments - MIME encoding uses Base64 to attach binary files Data URLs - Embed images directly in HTML/CSS (e.g., data:image/png;base64,...…