What is the difference between words and characters?

I've always wanted to know this and I finally realized the answer.

Characters include all the symbols, numbers and letters. Including spaces is up to you. Example:

Symbols~, . / < > ? :" ;'{} [] !@#$%^&*()_+-

Numbers 0123456789

Letters: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Count each and every symbol, number and letter.

Hey dude!

with spaces=9 characters without=8 characters

Words, I think you know what it is right?

Hey dude!

Words= 2