Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Basic Encoding Rules
     
         (BER) {ASN.1} encoding rules for
        producing self-identifying and self-delimiting {transfer
        syntax} for data structures described in {ASN.1} notations.
     
        BER is an self-identifying and self-delimiting encoding
        scheme, which means that each data value can be identified,
        extracted and decoded individually.
     
        Huw Rogers once described BER as "a triumph of bloated theory
        over clean implementation".  He also criticises it as designed
        around bitstreams with arbitrary boundaries between data which
        can only be determined at a high level.
     
        Documents: {ITU-T} X.690, {ISO} 8825-1.
     
        See also {CER}, {DER}, {PER}.
     
        (1998-05-28)