Why did utf-8 replace the ascii character-encoding standard?
Answers
Explanation:
ASCII is an encoding for a much smaller character-set, and it doesn't address the problems of multi-byte character-sets at all.You do realize that the single-byte encodings of UTF-8 actually are ASCII, zero-extended to 8 bits, don't you? It's almost exactly true that UTF-8 doesn't replace ASCII but incorporates it, because Unicode was designed that way.The difference is that ASCII is a 7-bit code, and does not define what to do with the extra bit if you have 8 bits to play with.
This state persisted for some time. In 1991, 8-bit became the official format as maintained by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) for UTF-8.The challenge that came up at this time though, was that only one alphabet could be supported by a 7 or 8-bit encoding.
The web’s switch from ASCII and Microsoft’s ANSI towards UTF-8 can be largely attributable to initiatives by Google, as internet usage was becoming more international and ASCII was only capable of displaying Latin characters.
Therefore, UTF-8 is replace the ASCII character encoding standard