Containing data on number theory, encryption schemes, and cyclic codes, this highly successful textbook, proven by the authors in a popular two-quarter course, presents coding theory, construction, encoding, and decoding of specific code families in an "easy-to-use" manner appropriate for students with only a basic background in mathematics offering revised and updated material on the Berlekamp-Massey decoding algorithm and convolutional codes. Introducing the mathematics as it is needed and providing exercises with solutions, this edition includes an extensive section on cryptography, designed for an introductory course on the subject.