Barcode Flash Cards

Scans and Generated Cards

The deck mixes two kinds of card. The scans are reference images of thirty-one symbologies. The generated cards are drawn fresh by the barcode generator's engine every time you shuffle, with random data, so you can't learn a symbology by memorizing one picture of it. When you reveal a generated card it also shows the data it carries and colors the guard patterns, start and stop characters and check characters, which are the parts that give a symbology away. The switch above the card picks either kind alone.

Credit Where Credit is Due

The barcode images and their descriptions are taken from BarcodeFAQ reference. Make sure you visit their site for lots more wonderful information about barcodes and barcode symbologies.

But... Why?

I'm getting back into the retail point-of-sale space after being away a few years, and I needed a way to brush up on my ability to identify barcode symbologies on sight, so I cooked up this web app to help me learn them again.

If you look closely at the images, you'll notice that most of them highlight the lines at either end of the barcode in red. These are the lines that are most helpful in identifying the symbology.