Topic

character

Not who you're looking for? Others named character: type of income, in taxation · symbol or sign (concept unrelated to computing) · 2020 studio album by Rachael Sage · 2022 song by Ryokuōshoku Shakai

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Overview

In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language. Examples of characters include letters, numerical digits, common punctuation marks (such as "." or "-"), and whitespace. The concept also includes control characters, which do not correspond to visible symbols but rather to instructions to format or process the text. Examples of control characters include carriage return and tab as well as other instructions to printers or other devices that display or otherwise process text. Characters are typically combined into strings. Historically, the term character was used to denote a specific number of contiguous bits. While a character is most commonly assumed to refer to 8 bits (one byte) today, other options like the 6-bit character code were once popular, and the 5-bit Baudot code has been used in the past as well. The term has even been applied to 4 bits with only 16 possible values. All modern systems use a varying-size sequence of these fixed-sized pieces, for instance UTF-8 uses a varying number of 8-bit code units to define a "code point" and Unicode uses varying number of those to define a "character".

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Our characters are the result of our conduct.”
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 3, chapter 5, section 12 (c. 335 BC).
“When you start making a movie, you never know which will be the break out characters, the stars of the movie. That happened to us with Scrat (the saber toothed squirrel in Ice Age. We didn’t know that Scrat was going to be a superstar. Scrat doesn’t diminish the central Ice Age characters, Manny, Sid and Diego.”
— Carlos Saldhana, in Elaine Lipworth, "Interview with Director of Rio 2, Carlos Saldanha" (3 April 2014), entertainment.ie.
“It can be said of him, When he departed he took a Man's life with him. No sounder piece of British manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of Time.”
— Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter Scott, London and Westminster Review (1838).
“Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.”
— Homer, The Odyssey, Book IV, line 372. Pope's translation.
“The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.”
— Charles Sumner—Oration on the True Grandeur of Nations.
“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, 'and not on marble.”
— Charles Spurgeon, p. 44.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

On IJR

No public IJR answers mention character yet. As people ask about it and share their answers, they'll appear here.

Notable quotes

“Our characters are the result of our conduct.”
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 3, chapter 5, section 12 (c. 335 BC).
“When you start making a movie, you never know which will be the break out characters, the stars of the movie. That happened to us with Scrat (the saber toothed squirrel in Ice Age. We didn’t know that Scrat was going to be a superstar. Scrat doesn’t diminish the central Ice Age characters, Manny, Sid and Diego.”
— Carlos Saldhana, in Elaine Lipworth, "Interview with Director of Rio 2, Carlos Saldanha" (3 April 2014), entertainment.ie.
“It can be said of him, When he departed he took a Man's life with him. No sounder piece of British manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of Time.”
— Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter Scott, London and Westminster Review (1838).
“Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.”
— Homer, The Odyssey, Book IV, line 372. Pope's translation.
“The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.”
— Charles Sumner—Oration on the True Grandeur of Nations.
“A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forget-me-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, 'and not on marble.”
— Charles Spurgeon, p. 44.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Overview

In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme, grapheme-like unit, or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language. Examples of characters include letters, numerical digits, common punctuation marks (such as "." or "-"), and whitespace. The concept also includes control characters, which do not correspond to visible symbols but rather to instructions to format or process the text. Examples of control characters include carriage return and tab as well as other instructions to printers or other devices that display or otherwise process text. Characters are typically combined into strings. Historically, the term character was used to denote a specific number of contiguous bits. While a character is most commonly assumed to refer to 8 bits (one byte) today, other options like the 6-bit character code were once popular, and the 5-bit Baudot code has been used in the past as well. The term has even been applied to 4 bits with only 16 possible values. All modern systems use a varying-size sequence of these fixed-sized pieces, for instance UTF-8 uses a varying number of 8-bit code units to define a "code point" and Unicode uses varying number of those to define a "character".

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Not who you're looking for? Others named character: type of income, in taxation · symbol or sign (concept unrelated to computing) · 2020 studio album by Rachael Sage · 2022 song by Ryokuōshoku Shakai