UTF8 Encoder/Decoder

UTF-8, which stands for Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit, is a variable-width character encoding capable of representing every character in the Unicode character set. It is one of the most widely used character encodings and is designed to be efficient and compatible with ASCII, making it a popular choice for encoding text in various programming languages, web pages, and communication protocols.

Before understanding UTF-8, it's crucial to grasp the context of character encoding. In the early days of computing, character encoding primarily revolved around ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), a 7-bit character set that encoded English characters and control characters. As the need for supporting diverse languages and symbols increased, the limitations of ASCII became evident.

To address the limitations of ASCII, Unicode emerged as a comprehensive character encoding standard. Unicode aims to assign a unique code point to every character from every script and language in the world. Each Unicode character is identified by a unique hexadecimal number, and the Unicode standard provides a standardized way of representing text in digital systems.

UTF-8 is a variable-width encoding scheme devised to represent Unicode characters efficiently. Unlike fixed-width encodings, such as UCS-2 and UTF-16, where each character is represented by a fixed number of bytes, UTF-8 uses a variable number of bytes to encode characters.

In summary, UTF-8 is a versatile and widely adopted character encoding that efficiently represents Unicode characters. Its variable-width design strikes a balance between preserving compatibility with ASCII and accommodating the diverse range of characters needed for multilingual support. UTF-8 has become the standard for encoding text in a globalized digital landscape, facilitating the seamless exchange of information in different languages and scripts.