The book brought to the attention of readers is devoted to issues related to the history of the appearance and development of ciphers and codes, as well as the basics of cryptography, cryptanalysis and cryptology. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of using sneakers and ciphers of varying degrees of complexity, which each person, if necessary, can use in everyday life. The first chapter explains in a simple and accessible form the meaning of the concepts “code” and “cipher”, and also provides brief information about the basic terms definitions used when working with codes and ciphers. The second and third chapters briefly outline the most significant and interesting events from the history of the appearance of various codes, as well as from the history of cryptography. Advice on using the most famous codes is given in the fourth chapter. Sections of the fifth chapter of the proposed book are devoted to the practical application of simple ciphers in everyday life. The appendices provide some of the most commonly used codes in various areas of human activity. These are, first of all, Morse code and Braille code, as well as semaphore alphabet and flag code. Moreover, they are not given only Russian, but also international versions of these codes. All chapters and sections are accompanied by explanatory drawings and tables, thanks to which the perception and assimilation of the presented information is much more effective.