Abstract: An encoder, decoder, method of encoding, and method of decoding which preserves the turbo coder performance in the waterfall region, while improving upon performance in the error asymptote region, by applying a parser or other similar element to the input bit stream. The parser assigns input bits to a subset of constituent encoders in a pseudo-random fashion. The parsing strategy breaks up input sequences producing low Hamming weight error events, thereby improving the weight spectrum and asymptotic performance of the code, while not impacting waterfall region performance. The parser or other similar element may also strengthen the weight spectrum without adversely affecting convergence of a corresponding decoder.