The mapping between messages and barcodes is called a symbology. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the message into bars and spaces, any required start and stop markers, the size of the quiet zone required to be before and after the barcode, and the computation of a checksum.

Linear symbologies can be classified mainly by two properties:

Continuous vs. discrete

• Characters in discrete symbologies are composed of n bars and n − 1 spaces. There is an additional space between characters, but it does not convey information, and may have any width as long as it is not confused with the end of the code.
• Characters in continuous symbologies are composed of n bars and n spaces, and usually abut, with one character ending with a space and the next beginning with a bar, or vice versa. A special end pattern that has bars on both ends is required to end the code.

Two-width vs. many-width

• A two-width, also called a binary bar code, contains bars and spaces of two widths, "wide" and "narrow". The precise width of the wide bars and spaces is not critical; typically it is permitted to be anywhere between 2 and 3 times the width of the narrow equivalents.
• Some other symbologies use bars of two different heights (POSTNET), or the presence or absence of bars (CPC Binary Barcode). These are normally also considered binary bar codes.
• Bars and spaces in many-width symbologies are all multiples of a basic width called the module; most such codes use four widths of 1, 2, 3 and 4 modules.

Some symbologies use interleaving. The first character is encoded using black bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded by varying the width of the white spaces between these bars. Thus characters are encoded in pairs over the same section of the barcode. Interleaved 2 of 5 is an example of this.

Stacked symbologies repeat a given linear symbology vertically.

The most common among the many 2D symbologies are matrix codes, which feature square or dot-shaped modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2D symbologies also come in circular and other patterns and may employ steganography, hiding modules within an image (for example, DataGlyphs).

Linear symbologies are optimized for laser scanners, which sweep a light beam across the barcode in a straight line, reading a slice of the barcode light-dark patterns. Scanning at an angle makes the modules appear wider, but does not change the width ratios. Stacked symbologies are also optimized for laser scanning, with the laser making multiple passes across the barcode.

In the 1990s development of charge coupled device (CCD) imagers to read barcodes was pioneered by Welch Allyn. Imaging does not require moving parts, as a laser scanner does. In 2007, linear imaging had begun to supplant laser scanning as the preferred scan engine for its performance and durability.

2D barcode symbologies cannot be read by a laser, as there is typically no sweep pattern that can encompass the entire symbol. They must be scanned by an image-based scanner employing a CCD or other digital camera sensor technology.