Coding theory originated with the 1948 publication of the paper “A mathematical theory of communication” by Claude Shannon. For the past half century, coding theory has grown into a discipline intersecting mathematics and engineering with applications to almost every area of communication such as satellite and cellular telephone transmission, compact disc recording, and data storage.

During the 50th anniversary year of Shannon's seminal paper, the two volume Handbook of Coding Theory, edited by the authors of the current text, was published by Elsevier Science. That Handbook, with contributions from 33 authors, covers a wide range of topics at the frontiers of research. As editors of the Handbook, we felt it would be appropriate to produce a textbook that could serve in part as a bridge to the Handbook. This textbook is intended to be an in-depth introduction to coding theory from both a mathematical and engineering viewpoint suitable either for the classroom or for individual study. Several of the topics are classical, while others cover current subjects that appear only in specialized books and journal publications. We hope that the presentation in this book, with its numerous examples and exercises, will serve as a lucid introduction that will enable readers to pursue some of the many themes of coding theory.

Fundamentals of Error-Correcting Codes is a largely self-contained textbook suitable for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students at any level.