Remember: “Creating your own encoding” means you choose the rule. Whether you shift by 5, XOR by 42, or build a custom dictionary, the key is ensuring that decoding perfectly reverses encoding.

encoded = encode(secret) print("Encoded list:", encoded)

In this article, we’ll break down exactly what the problem asks, explore the logic behind encoding, and provide a clear, correct answer—while explaining why it works so you can adapt it for your own learning. Course Context: This problem appears in the "Strings" or "Cryptography" section of CodeHS’s Python curriculum (often in AP CSP or Intro to Computer Science in Python ).