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Re: Around the world with Unicode

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On 04/12/2017 21:53, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
> 
>> As long as you use Unicode all the time, everything is easy!
>>
>> This is a lie. Nothing in life is easy.
> 
> Unfortunately several programming languages have fallen for the lie:
> Python, Guile, Java, JavaScript, to name a few. Each of them has
> introduced a Unicode string type of sorts. They have sacrificed the
> simplicity of classic byte strings. In return, they were supposed to
> nail internationalization once and for all. Unfortunately, as the
> article illustrated, Unicode didn't solve the problem at all.
> 
> Like C, they should have stuck to byte strings.

These (programming) languages may well have problems and, as the article 
points out, Unicode itself has problems, but there is one area where the 
Unicode team have done an astonishing job, which is the the high-level 
of backwards compatibility achieved by the standard library routine 
(re-)writers when implementing Unicode support.

The opportunity to introduce subtle and hard to predict/detect bugs was 
huge but I don't ever recall hearing of a bug introduced as a result of 
recompiling old code in a newer, Unicode-aware compiler and OS. It just 
works.

This bit of Unicode doesn't get any recognition, IMHO, but it certainly 
deserves some. And now that we have been blessed with emoji ligature I 
should make the effort to offer more than just a smiley in praise!  :-)

-- 
Bruce Horrocks
Surrey
England
(bruce at scorecrow dot com)

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Thread

Around the world with Unicode RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2017-12-04 13:34 -0500
  Re: Around the world with Unicode Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2017-12-04 21:30 +0000
  Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-04 23:53 +0200
    Re: Around the world with Unicode Bruce Horrocks <07.013@scorecrow.com> - 2017-12-05 00:14 +0000
      Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-05 09:07 +0200
        Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-05 10:58 +0000
          Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-05 13:24 +0200
            Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-05 12:46 +0000
              Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-05 15:28 +0200
                Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-05 18:10 +0000
  Re: Around the world with Unicode Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2017-12-06 03:48 +0000
    Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-06 02:19 -0400
      Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-06 09:31 +0200
      Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-06 11:25 +0000
        Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-06 15:25 +0200
          Re: Around the world with Unicode "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2017-12-06 18:32 +0000
            Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-07 00:22 +0200
              Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-06 19:57 -0400
          Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-06 18:43 +0000
            Re: Around the world with Unicode Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2017-12-06 20:49 +0100
            Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-07 00:25 +0200
              Re: Around the world with Unicode scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2017-12-06 22:56 +0000
              Re: Around the world with Unicode Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-12-06 22:57 +0000
          Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-06 19:48 -0400
            Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-07 10:02 +0200
              Re: Around the world with Unicode Roger Blake <rogblake@iname.invalid> - 2017-12-07 16:54 +0000
                Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-07 14:55 -0400
              Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-07 14:43 -0400
                Re: Around the world with Unicode Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-12-07 21:09 +0200
                Re: Around the world with Unicode The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> - 2017-12-07 11:48 -0800
                Re: Around the world with Unicode Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-12-08 00:43 -0400

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