Hand held bar code scanners are used typically as inventory or point of sale (POS) devices.

Fixed mount bar code scanners are designed to manually or mechanically read items passed by their scan windows.

Bar code scanners are designed to read imprinted bar / matrix code symbologies.

Slot card bar code scanners are designed to read imprinted bar code cards that are passed through the aperture on the reader

Bar code software identifies or decodes bar code symbology, generates output strings corresponding to barcode values, creates bar code fonts, prints bar codes, and/or performs tracking, etc

Bar code decoders use a receiver mechanism to read a barcode and then convert the code into usable data

Bar code printers are used to output bar code data in printed form