In coding theory, the BCH codes or Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem codes form a class of cyclic error-correcting codes that are constructed using polynomials over a finite field (also called Galois field). BCH codes were invented in 1959 by French mathematician Alexis Hocquenghem, and independently in 1960 by Raj Bose and D. K. Ray-Chaudhuri.[1][2][3] The name Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (and the acronym BCH) arises from the initials of the inventors' surnames (mistakenly, in the case of Ray-Chaudhuri).