The number of bits used per character in a character set directly influences the range of characters that can be represented. This guide explores how different character sets like ASCII and Unicode use varying numbers of bits to represent characters, impacting their capacity and range.
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) uses 7 bits per character, allowing it to represent 128 unique characters (27 = 128). This includes English letters, digits, and certain control characters. ASCII is limited to representing a small character set, primarily focused on English text.
Unicode, in contrast, uses more bits per character and has several encoding forms. The most common, UTF-8, starts with 8 bits per character but can extend up to 32 bits. This allows Unicode to represent over a million unique characters, covering most of the world's writing systems, symbols, and even emojis.
The increased number of bits makes Unicode more versatile but also requires more storage space compared to ASCII for some characters.
The number of bits used per character in a character set determines the total number of unique characters that can be represented. Fewer bits per character mean a smaller set of characters can be represented, while more bits allow for a more extensive and diverse character set.
This has a significant impact on the range and types of characters that can be effectively encoded and processed in digital systems.
While ASCII is sufficient for basic English text, its limited capacity makes it inadequate for international languages and symbols. Unicode's broader range makes it the preferred standard in global computing environments, though it requires more careful handling of character encoding.
Question: Why can't ASCII represent characters from languages like Chinese or Arabic?
Answer: ASCII is limited to 128 unique characters due to its 7-bit structure, which is insufficient to encompass the vast number of characters in languages like Chinese or Arabic.