Character vs. Byte

[RajatJ]

I have a very basic question and hope someone will give me details.
My question is: What is the difference between Byte and Character? I am taking in terms of stream. How are they represented? If the data in a file is represented in bytes is it same as binary file? What is the relation between Binary file, data in byte stream and character stream?
I know this is a very fundamental question. Please tell me where should I find this basic information.
Thanks

[Frank Carver]

"RajatJ",
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Thanks.