CR: Encoding

Encoding

http://www.w3.org/TR/2015/CR-encoding-20151020/

feedback due by: 2015-11-24

Abstract


The utf-8 encoding is the most appropriate encoding for interchange of Unicode, the universal coded character set. Therefore for new protocols and formats, as well as existing formats deployed in new contexts, this specification requires (and defines) the utf-8 encoding.

The other (legacy) encodings have been defined to some extent in the past. However, user agents have not always implemented them in the same way, have not always used the same labels, and often differ in dealing with undefined and former proprietary areas of encodings. This specification addresses those gaps so that new user agents do not have to reverse engineer encoding implementations and existing user agents can converge.

Status of the Document


This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This is a snapshot of the WHATWG document, as of 29 September 2015, published after discussion with the WHATWG editors. No changes have been made in the body of this document other than to align with W3C house styles. The primary reason that W3C is publishing this document is so that HTML5 and other specifications may normatively refer to a stable W3C Recommendation.

This second publication of the Candidate Recommendation takes into account changes made to the editor's draft since its initial publication as CR. These changes are largely due to issues discovered during implementation. This document will remain a Candidate Recommendation at least until 24 November 2015 in order to ensure the opportunity for wide review. See the disposition of comments for the CR period.

Note


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This document was published by the Internationalization Working Group as a Candidate Recommendation. This document is intended to become a W3C Recommendation. If you wish to make comments regarding this document, please send them to www-international@w3.org (subscribe, archives). W3C publishes a Candidate Recommendation to indicate that the document is believed to be stable and to encourage implementation by the developer community. This Candidate Recommendation is expected to advance to Proposed Recommendation no earlier than 23 December 2015. All comments are welcome.

Publication as a Candidate Recommendation does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

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This document is governed by the 1 September 2015 W3C Process Document.