Encoding failure occurs when a system is unable to convert data from one form to another accurately. This can happen due to various reasons, such as a mismatch in character sets, corruption of data, or limitations in the encoding method being used.
For example, let’s consider a scenario where a text file containing special characters is saved in UTF-8 encoding. If someone tries to read this file using a software that only supports ISO-8859-1 (a different character encoding), the special characters may not display correctly. Instead of showing the intended characters, the reader might see gibberish or question marks, indicating that the encoding has failed in transferring the correct information.
In summary, encoding failures can lead to the loss of meaning in data due to mismatched formats or limitations, which is crucial to consider when exchanging information between different systems.