Serial Number - Other Uses of The Term

Other Uses of The Term

The term "serial number" is sometimes used for codes which do not identify a single instance of something. For example, the International Standard Serial Number or ISSN used on magazines and other periodicals, an equivalent to the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) applied to books, is serially assigned not to each individual copy but to an issue of a periodical. It takes its name from the library science use of the word "serial" to mean a periodical.

Certificates and Certificate Authorities (CA) are necessary for widespread use of cryptography. These depend on applying mathematically rigorous serial numbers and serial number arithmetic, again not identifying a single instance of the content being protected.