Code vectors enable ML practitioners to tackle code problems that were previously approachable only with highly-specialized software engineering knowledge. Conversely, code vectors can help software analysts to leverage general, off-the-shelf ML tools without needing to become ML experts.

A linear code of length n and dimension k is a linear subspace C with dimension k of the vector space where is the finite field with q elements. Such a code is called a q -ary code. If q = 2 or q = 3, the code is described as a binary code, or a ternary code respectively. The vectors in C are called codewords.