A character encoding system consists of a code that pairs each character from a given repertoire with something else—such as a bit pattern, sequence of natural numbers, octets, or electrical pulses—in order to facilitate the transmission of data (generally numbers or text) through telecommunication networks or for data storage. Other terms such as character set, character map, codeset, and code page are used almost interchangeably, but these terms have related but distinct meanings described below.
Early character codes associated with the optical or electrical telegraph could only represent a subset of the characters used in written language, sometimes restricted to upper case letters, numerals and some punctuation only. The low cost of digital representation of data in modern computer systems allows more elaborate character codes (such as Unicode) which represent more of the characters used in many written languages. Character encoding using internationally-accepted standards permits worldwide interchange of text in electronic form.
Read more about Character Encoding: History, Code Unit, Unicode Encoding Model, Character Sets, Code Pages, and Character Maps, Character Encoding Translation
Famous quotes containing the word character:
“When I think of some of the Persians, the Hindus, the Arabs I knew, when I think of the character they revealed, their grace, their tenderness, their intelligence, their holiness, I spit on the white conquerors of the world, the degenerate British, the pigheaded Germans, the smug self-satisfied French.”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)