Re: Unicode in the Curriculum?

On 1/6/2016 3:27 PM, Shawn Steele wrote:
>
> Then it should be UTF-8. Learning to do something in a non-Unicode
> code page and then redoing it for UTF-8 or UTF-16 merely leads to
> conversion problems, incompatibilities, and other nonsense.
>

Agreed.

But so does teaching people that it's OK to use ASCII-fallbacks, because
a few of their characters are not available on the bunny slope.
>
> If someone “needs” to not use UTF-16 for whatever reason, then they
> should use UTF-8. The “advanced” training should be the other
> non-Unicode code pages.
>

I think any training in non-Unicode character sets is beyond a standard
curriculum, except perhaps History of Computing or Digital Archaeology :)
>
> Teach them right the first time. They’ll never use a code page.
>

+1

A./
>
> -Shawn
>
> *From:*Unicode [mailto:unicode-bounces_at_unicode.org] *On Behalf Of
> *Asmus Freytag (t)
> *Sent:* January 6, 2016 3:19 PM
> *To:* unicode_at_unicode.org
> *Subject:* Re: Unicode in the Curriculum?
>
> On 1/6/2016 10:59 AM, Shawn Steele wrote:
>
> +1 :)
>
>
> I'm not going to join the happy chorus here.
>
> The "bunny" slope for most people is their own native language...
>
> A./
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Unicode [mailto:unicode-bounces_at_unicode.org] On Behalf Of Ken Whistler
>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 6, 2016 7:44 AM
>
> To: Andre Schappo<A.Schappo_at_lboro.ac.uk> <mailto:A.Schappo_at_lboro.ac.uk>
>
> Cc:unicode_at_unicode.org <mailto:unicode_at_unicode.org>
>
> Subject: Re: Unicode in the Curriculum?
>
> Actually, ASCII should *not* be ignored or deprecated.
>
> We *love* ASCII. The issue is just making sure that students understand that the *true name* of "ASCII" is "UTF-8". It is just the very first 128 values that open into the entire world of Unicode characters.
>
> It is a mind trick to play on young programmers: when you learn "ASCII", you are just playing on the bunny slope at the UTF-8 ski resort. Slap on your snowboard and practice -- get out there onto the 2-, 3- and 4-byte slopes with the experts!
>
> --Ken
>
> On 1/6/2016 4:09 AM, Andre Schappo wrote:
>
> On 4 Jan 2016, at 16:59, Asmus Freytag (t) wrote:
>
> ASCII shouldn't be taught, perhaps?
>
> I really like the idea of questioning whether or not ASCII should even be taught.
>
> Wherever in a programming curriculum, text processing/transmission/storage/presentation/encoding is taught, then it should be Unicode text.
>
> ASCII, along with, ISO-8859 ISO-2022 GB2312 .etc. should be consigned
>
> to
>
> .and finally, the legacy character sets/encodings...
>
> Maybe ASCII should now be flagged as deprecated
>
> https://twitter.com/andreschappo/status/684706421712228352
>
> André Schappo
>
Received on Wed Jan 06 2016 - 17:33:32 CST