Which process involves producing a fixed-size numeric value from data?

The process that involves producing a fixed-size numeric value from data is known as hashing. Hashing takes an input (or "message") and generates a unique, fixed-size string of characters that is typically a numeric value. This value, referred to as the hash, serves as a digital fingerprint of the input data. One of the key features of hashing is that even a small change in the input will produce a significantly different hash output, making it an important tool for ensuring data integrity.

Hashing is commonly used in various applications, such as verifying data integrity, securely storing passwords, and creating digital signatures. Unlike encryption, which is designed to protect the confidentiality of data, hashing is non-reversible, meaning there's no way to retrieve the original data from the hash.

Other processes mentioned, such as encryption, decryption, and encoding, serve different purposes. Encryption is intended for securing data by converting it into a format that is unreadable without a key, while decryption involves converting the encrypted data back to its original form. Encoding, on the other hand, transforms data into a different format for transmission or storage but is not inherently focused on security and does not produce a fixed-size numeric value like hashing does.