This introductory book, which grew out of lectures given at the Mathematics Institute of WÃ¼rzburg University, proposes a combination of coding theory and number theory. Chapter 1 gives a standard course of linear codes. The next two chapters treat a link between coding theory and number theory. Chapter 4 is a systematic study of algebraic-geometric codes and in Chapter 5 a connection between binary linear codes and theta functions is discussed.

The book is designed to teach undergraduates and graduates the basic ideas and techniques of coding theory and number theory.