A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data. Initially, bar codes symbolized data in the widths and the spacing of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1D (or one dimensional) barcodes or symbologies. They also come in patterns of squares, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns within images termed 2D (two dimensional) matrix codes or symbologies. Although 2D systems use symbols other than bars, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well. I find it really amusing that by using a bunch of lines, barcode scanners can actually identify items and other things exactly what it is for or what it stands for. This inventory control software is really remarkable as it makes things easier when checking the exact number of items inside an establishment. This is one thing that really gives comfort to a lot of people, especially in department stores, because they would immediately know how many stocks do they have, how many items of the same kind got sold, and how many items remaining do they have in a single flash of light from the scanner. And as I believe, barcodes are also used nowadays in identification cards using a special time and attendance software that can easily record attendance within a company. this should make the human resource department easier because everything is computer generated and in just a matter of minutes, they would automatically know who’s on time and who is not, unlike before when most companies were still using time cards, they have to wait for fifteen days or more to see how the attendance went.