What is Cryptology?

Cryptology is the study of making and breaking codes and cyphers. Cyphers, often mistaken for codes, are symbols, numbers, or letters made to represent the letters of the alphabet. In a cypher, there is a different symbol for each letter. Morse Code, although called a code, is actually a good example of a cypher. Codes are when a phrase or symbol is used to represent an entire phrase or sentance. In order to decode a message written in a cypher, most cryptologists first look for the most commonly occuring symbols. Since "e" is the most commonly used letter in the english language, the most abundant symbol in an encrypted message (a message written in a code or cypher) usually stands for the letter "e". From there, cryptologists usually try to find all one letter words, which are usually "a". After that, they look for two or three letter words, and so on, until they know enough symbols decyphered to figure out the entire message. This is called cryptanalasis.