What is Character Encoding?
Computers only understand numbers. Character encoding is a system that maps numbers to letters, symbols, and emojis.
Why UTF-8?
UTF-8 is the universal standard that supports EVERY language and emoji.
UTF = Unicode Transformation Format
1-< meta charset="UTF-8">What you can write with UTF-8:
Language | Example |
|---|---|
English | Hello World |
Hindi | नमस्ते दुनिया |
Spanish | ¡Hola Mundo! |
French | Bonjour le monde |
German | Hallo Welt |
Japanese | こんにちは世界 |
Chinese | 你好世界 |
Arabic | مرحبا بالعالم |
Russian | Привет мир |
Emojis | 😊 🚀 ❤️ 🎉 🔥 |
What happens without UTF-8:
You see weird boxes: ������� instead of नमस्ते
The Golden Rule:
Always put <meta charset="UTF-8"> as the FIRST tag inside <head>.