Kenneth Whistler wrote:
> In the way of solutions seeking a problem, I would like to
> propose a new UTF: UTF-17.
As [Cicero] would have said:
Times are bad.
Developers no longer follow specs,
and everyone is proposing a new UTF.
> UTF-17 will interoperate easily with UTF-64.
It depends what you mean by UTF-64 (tm). If you mean either the original
design by [Keinanen] or the hacked design by [Cimarosti, Ewell], then the
interoperability isn't easier than with other UTF's. You have to decode
UTF-17 into a code point, and re-encode three (or more) code point packed
into a 64-bit word.
Did anyone already proposed an *UTF-17S*, where astral characters are
encoded with a 16-byte sequence? That would be very handy for people who
need an obfuscated sorting order.
References:
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius: motto for the signature of Marcus Leisher's
e-mails ("Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and
everyone is writing a book").
- Keinanen, Paul: authentic UTF-64 proposal (three 21-bit chars in a 64-bit
word).
- Cimarosti, Marco (proposer) and Ewell, Doug (implementer): apocryphal
UTF-64 proposal (three 21-bit chars or nine 7-bit chars in a 64-bit word).
_ Marcus :-)
