Why UTF-8/16 character encodings?

[Entry]

On Thursday, 30 May 2013 at 13:52:09 UTC, monarch_dodra wrote:
> On Thursday, 30 May 2013 at 13:12:17 UTC, Entry wrote:
>> On Thursday, 30 May 2013 at 09:29:43 UTC, monarch_dodra wrote:
>>> On Thursday, 30 May 2013 at 08:32:01 UTC, Entry wrote:
>>>> On Wednesday, 29 May 2013 at 23:57:01 UTC, Peter Williams 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On 30/05/13 08:40, Entry wrote:
>>>>>> My personal opinion is that code should only be in English.
>>>>>
>>>>> But why would you want to impose this restriction on others?
>>>>>
>>>>> Peter
>>>>
>>>> I wouldn't say impose. I'd say that programming in a unified 
>>>> language (D) should not be sabotaged by comments and 
>>>> variable names in various human languages (Swedish, 
>>>> Russian), but be accompanied by a similarly 'unified' 
>>>> language that we all know - English. It is only my opinion 
>>>> though and I wouldn't force it upon anyone.
>>>
>>> But programming IS a human tool, and thus, subject to human 
>>> language.
>>>
>>> Also, I don't see how a programming language is any more 
>>> unified than, say, a library.
>>>
>>> While you wouldn't force it on anyone, would it also be your 
>>> opinion that putting a French book in a french library be a 
>>> sabotage of the world's librarial institutions?
>>
>> What a way to attack a straw-man and completely miss the point 
>> at the same time.
>
> Fine.
>
> In that case, I'll retort by saying that you use of the 
> 'unified' is intentionally loaded to favor your stance.
>
> My retort was not correctly expressed, but I don't see how D is 
> "unified". I thought it was just a tool to create programs.

Take a minute to think about why we're all communicating in 
English here. Let's see if you can figure it out. I just think 
that it's better to focus on two very specific languages with two 
very specific purposes (D for programming and English for 
communication). 'Twas just an idea, I don't care if you write 
your code in hieroglyphs.