The Unicode system is an international character encoding standard that assigns unique numeric values to represent characters from various languages and scripts around the world. It allows computers to handle text in multiple languages more effectively than previous standards like ASCII.
Related terms
UTF-8 encoding: UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format - 8-bit) is one of the most commonly used encodings within the Unicode system. It uses variable-length encoding to represent characters efficiently.
Emoji support: The Unicode system also includes support for emojis, which are graphical representations used in digital communication to express emotions or ideas.
Internationalization (i18n): Internationalization refers to designing software or systems that can adapt to different languages, cultures, and regions. The Unicode system plays a crucial role in enabling internationalization by providing a standardized way to represent diverse characters.