Most coding theory experts date the origination of the subject with the 1948 publication of “A mathematical theory of communication,” by Claude Shannon. Since then, coding theory has grown into a discipline intersecting mathematics and engineering with applications to almost every area of communication such as satellite and deep space data transmission, cellular telephone communication, compact disc recording, and data storage. Most topics in the book will be presented in short sections at an introductory level with few proofs; many examples and references will be given by the authors.