Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, 2nd Edition

Chapter Thirteen

From ASCII to Unicode

Every time we tap on a tablet or poke on our phones or sit down at a laptop or desktop computer, we’re dealing with text. We’re either reading text, typing text, or cutting and pasting text from one place to another—from webpages to word processors, from email to social networks, from quips we see online to friends that we message.

None of this would be possible without a standardized way to represent text characters in computer bits and bytes. Character encoding is easily the most vital computer standard. This standard is crucial for the ability of modern communication to transcend the differences between computer systems and applications, between hardware and software manufacturers, and even between national ...