Unicode Forms: Too Many or Not Enough?
| Intended Audience: |
Software Engineers, Content Developers, Font Designers |
| Session Level: |
Beginner, Intermediate |
Although Unicode began as a single character set with a single, 16-bit
encoded form, the past 10 years has seen the addition of multiple UTFs,
as well as requests for more forms, tweaks, and variations every year. The
challenge is to balance specific needs against the overall complexity any
change adds to the standard. This paper discusses existing and requested
forms, along with their impact. It covers:
- forms that now are included in the standard (UTF-8, -16, and -32), and
their primary use throughout the computing world,
- forms or attributes that are being requested (new UTFs, Variant Selector,
character clones, etc.) along with pros and cons, and
- an assessment of the interoperability issues and overall complexity
associated with the forms, including recommended actions.
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