UPC stands for Universal Product Code. It is a unique 12-digit number that is assigned to every product that is sold commercially. The code is printed on a barcode and read by a scanner at the point of sale or time of shipment.
UPCs track inventory and ensure that the correct product is sold. Barcodes are simply a way to encode information in a machine-readable format. They can be used to track any type of data, not just product information. So, while all UPCs are barcodes, not all barcodes are UPCs.