What does 'ASCII' stand for in computing?

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This is a character encoding standard used for representing text in computers and other devices that use text. ASCII assigns a numerical value to each character, including letters, digits, punctuation marks, and control characters. It standardizes the way text is transmitted between devices and ensures compatibility across different systems. By utilizing a 7-bit binary number, it can represent 128 unique symbols, which include both printable characters and non-printable control codes.

This encoding has been instrumental in the development of computing and telecommunications as it allows for the consistent representation and manipulation of text. The other options listed provide alternative phrases that do not accurately describe the ASCII standard, which is specifically focused on character representation and interchange.