UTF-8

UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format - 8-bit) is a variable-width character encoding standard that represents Unicode characters using one to four bytes. It is backward-compatible with ASCII, as the first 128 characters (0-127) are encoded identically, making it widely adopted for text representation in computing. UTF-8 is the dominant encoding for web content, operating systems, and data interchange due to its efficiency and compatibility.

Also known as: UTF8, Unicode UTF-8, UTF-8 Encoding, Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit, UTF-8 Character Encoding

Why learn UTF-8?

Developers should learn UTF-8 because it is essential for handling international text and emojis in applications, ensuring proper display and processing across different languages and platforms. It is crucial for web development (e.g., HTML, JSON), database storage, and file I/O to prevent encoding issues like mojibake, and it is recommended by standards like the W3C for web content.

Learning Resources

• docs: UTF-8 Everywhere Manifesto
• docs: MDN Web Docs: UTF-8
• tutorial: Unicode and Character Sets
• tutorial: W3C: Character Encoding for Beginners
• video: YouTube: UTF-8 Explained