Does there exist an isomorphism between the semigroups $S(4)$ and $\mathbf Z_{256}$.
$S(4)$ is the set of all maps from the set $X$ to itself and $X = \{1, 2, 3, 4\}$. $S(4)$ is a semigroup under the composition of mappings and $\mathbf Z_{256} = {0, 1, 2, … , 255}$ is the semigroup under multiplication of integers modulo 256.
Note that in $\mathbb Z_{256}$ we only have two elements $x$ so that $$x^2=x$$
Indeed, if $x$ is odd, it is invertible, otherwise $x-1$ is invertible $\mod{256}$.
In $S(4)$ there are many functions $f$ so that $f \circ f =f$, for example, all functions with only one element in the image.
So the answer is no.
Second solution The invertible elements in $S(4)$ are the permutations, thus $S(4)$ has $4!=24$ invertible elements. The invertible elements in $\mathbf Z_{256}$ are the numbers relatively prime to $256$ (i.e. odd numbers). Thus $\mathbf Z_{256}$ has 128 invertible elements.