Unicode is a universal character encoding standard designed to represent text and symbols from all writing systems around the world. Unicode is the most fundamental and universal character encoding standard. For every character, there is a unique 4 to 6-digit unique hexadecimal number known as a Unicode point. Unicode is standardized among all computing platforms, enabling consistent representation and manipulation of text across different systems and applications.
By assigning a unique code to every character, regardless of platform, program, or language, Unicode facilitates consistent text representation and data interchange across different systems. This global standard supports the seamless integration and communication of diverse languages and scripts, making it essential in our increasingly interconnected digital world
What is Unicode?
Unicode is a universal character encoding standard that assigns a unique code to every character, symbol, and script used in writing systems around the world making all characters available across all platforms, programs, and devices. It ensures that text is consistently represented and understood across different platforms, programs, and devices, enabling seamless communication and data exchange globally .
Key Features of Unicode
- Universal Coverage: Unicode aims to encode all the characters humans use for writing, including letters, symbols, punctuations, emojis, mathematical symbols, etc.
- Unique Code: Each character in Unicode has a unique 4 to 6-digit hexadecimal number. For Example, the letter 'A' has the code 0041, represented as U+0041.
- Compatible with ASCII:
- Unicode is compatible with ASCII encoding. This means that the first 128 characters in Unicode directly correspond to the characters represented in the 7-bit ASCII table
- We can also say that ASCII is a subset of Unicode.
- But wait! For the character 'A', the ASCII representation is 0065 and the unicode point is U+0041. How is it backward compatible with ASCII?
- This is because the U+0041 is in hexadecimal form! which corresponds to 0065 in Decimal.
- (0041)16 = (0065)10
- Flexibility: Unicode is flexible. It allows new characters to be added, supporting the evolving communication and language needs.
History of Unicode
Before the development of Unicode, there were hundreds of different character encodings for assigning letters and other characters to numbers so that computers could read them. Because of its limitations, this system was unable to encode enough characters to cover all of the world's languages, as well as hold all letters, punctuation, and technical systems in regular use.
Conflicts between character encodings also meant that two encodings could use the same number to represent two different characters or even multiple numbers for the same character. Any computer would have to handle various encodings, and this arrangement increased the possibility of data corruption as data moved between different computers or encodings.
Versions of Unicode
There have been numerous versions of Unicode released till now :
| Unicode Version | Year of Release | Month (Day) |
|---|
| 15.1.0 | 2023 | September 12 |
| 15.0.0 | 2022 | September 13 |
| 14.0.0 | 2021 | September 14 |
| 13.0.0 | 2020 | March 10 |
| 12.1.0 | 2019 | May 7 |
| 12.0.0 | 2019 | March 5 |
| 11.0.0 | 2018 | June 5 |
| 10.0.0 | 2017 | June 20 |
| 9.0.0 | 2016 | June 21 |
| 8.0.0 | 2015 | June 17 |
| 7.0.0 | 2014 | June 16 |
| 6.3.0 | 2013 | September 30 |
| 6.2.0 | 2012 | September 26 |
| 6.1.0 | 2012 | January 31 |
| 6.0.0 | 2010 | October 11 |
| 5.2.0 | 2009 | October 1 |
| 5.1.0 | 2008 | April 4 |
| 5.0.0 | 2006 | July 14 |
| 4.1.0 | 2005 | March 31 |
| 4.0.1 | 2004 | March |
| 4.0.0 | 2003 | April |
| 3.2.0 | 2002 | March |
| 3.1.1 | 2001 | August |
| 3.1.0 | 2001 | March |
| 3.0.1 | 2000 | August |
| 3.0.0 | 1999 | September |
| 2.1.9 | 1999 | April |
| 2.1.8 | 1998 | December |
| 2.1.5 | 1998 | August |
| 2.1.2 | 1998 | May |
| 2.0.0 | 1996 | July |
| 1.1.5 | 1995 | July |
| 1.1.0 | 1993 | June |
| 1.0.1 | 1992 | June |
| 1.0.0 | 1991 | October |
Size and Growth
As of today, Unicode supports over 1,49,000 characters! This set continues to grow to accommodate new symbols, emojis, and characters. Here are some characters with their Unicodes:
Character | Unicode |
|---|
😊 | U+1F60A |
|---|
👍 | U+1F44 |
|---|
1 | U+0031 |
|---|
+ | U+002B |
|---|
How To Type in Unicode Characters?
- Open your computer and log into your Operating System.
- Opening unicode window.
- On a Windows machine press the Windows Key (🪟) + period key (Dot key).
- On Mac OS press Control + command + space
- This will open a small window with Unicode characters.
- Search for the character you want and click on it. The character will appear on the screen.
Unicode Transformation Format is a method of encoding unicode characters for storage and communication purposes. This format specifies how Unicode characters will be converted into a sequence of bytes. The most common UTF forms are UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32.
UTF-8
- UTF-8 is a variable width encoding system where each character is encoded into 1 to 4-byte unicode points.
- UTF-8 is backward compatible with ASCII. All the ASCII characters (0-127) and 10 are represented inside UTF-8 (00-F7)16 using one byte.
- Other Unicode characters in UTF-8 are represented using multiple bytes.
- UTF-8 is widely used in internet and UNIX-like operating systems.
UTF-16
- UTF-16 is also a variable width encoding system where each character is encoded into a 2 to 4-byte unicode point.
- UTF-16 is used in Microsoft Windows OS and programming languages like Java
UTF-32
- UTF-32 is a fixed-width encoding system where each character is encoded into 4-byte unicode point.
- This format provides a simple one-to-one correspondence between Unicode characters but makes it less space-efficient, as where it should only take 1 byte of data (Example: 01), it is taking up 4 bytes (Example: 00000001).
- UTF-32 is less commonly used in mainstream applications and systems due to its space inefficiency and compatibility considerations
Conclusion
Unicode stands as a crucial pillar in the realm of digital communication, bridging the gap between diverse languages and scripts. By providing a standardized and unique way to represent text, Unicode ensures that information can be accurately and consistently shared across different platforms and devices. This universality fosters global connectivity, supports multilingual content, and underpins the seamless operation of today's technology-driven world. As digital communication continues to evolve, Unicode's role in maintaining clarity and consistency in textual representation remains indispensable.
