unicodeutfastral-planesupplementary

Do I need supplementary plane?

I think the question is pretty simple, do I need all the rest of the stuff in Unicode after the basic plane? What kind of stuff is included and is that really needed? (and for what purposes?)

Thanks.

Solution

  • If you intend to sell anything in China, then the GB 18030 standard is mandatory, and requires characters beyond BMP (Basic Multilingual Plane). The standard is enforced, and in order to sell there you need to pass a GB 18030 certification.

    There also national standards in Japan, and Hong Kong that require characters beyond BMP. Even if these standards are not enforced like the Chinese one, supporting them might give you some edge.

    So the simple answer would be: you need some of the stuff there.

    === 2016 ===

    That was 7 years ago. Now everybody talks about emojis. Well, most emojis are beyond BMP :-)