Why is used 'UTF-8' in HTML ?

Sanjay  RaiSanjay Rai
2 min read

UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit) is a character encoding capable of encoding all possible characters defined by Unicode. In the context of HTML, UTF-8 is the recommended character encoding for web pages. Here are some key points regarding the use of UTF-8 in HTML:

  1. Support for Multilingual Content: UTF-8 supports a wide range of characters from various languages and scripts, making it suitable for encoding multilingual content on web pages. This means you can display text in languages such as English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, etc., all within the same HTML document.

  2. Compatibility: UTF-8 is widely supported by web browsers and other software, making it a good choice for ensuring that your web pages display correctly across different platforms and devices.

  3. Character Representation: UTF-8 uses variable-length encoding to represent characters, which means that it can efficiently encode both commonly used characters (like those in the ASCII character set) and less common characters without wasting space.

  4. Declared in HTML: To specify that your HTML document is encoded using UTF-8, you should include a meta tag within the <head> section of your HTML document. The meta tag looks like this:

html    <meta charset="UTF-8">

This meta tag informs the browser that the document is encoded using UTF-8, allowing the browser to interpret the characters correctly.

  1. Avoiding Character Encoding Issues: By using UTF-8, you can avoid character encoding issues that may arise when different character encodings are used across various components of a web page, such as the HTML document, CSS files, JavaScript files, etc.

In summary, using UTF-8 in HTML ensures that your web pages can display a wide range of characters and languages correctly, promoting internationalization and ensuring compatibility across different platforms and devices.

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Written by

Sanjay  Rai
Sanjay Rai

As a lifelong learner, I stay up-to-date with the latest web technologies and trends, ensuring that my work reflects cutting-edge practices and delivers exceptional results.