Unicode: The new face of the Bengali Script

• What is Unicode?

Definition: Unicode is defined as a 16-bit character set standard that uses the 'phonetic' input method, and provides separate values for up to 65,536 characters and is designed to include characters appearing in most of the languages including Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, Greek etc. and it provides a unique number for every character, irrespective of the platform, the program and the language.

Explanation: Since computers deal just with digits, they store every bit of information by assigning a number to each one. The encoding systems of yore could not contain enough characters and no single encoding was adequate for the entire plethora of letters, punctuation and technical symbols that are commonly used. Moreover, the conflict between these encoding systems made the data vulnerable to corruption; it was Unicode that set the fields right by providing a unique number for every character. Adopted by leading companies such as Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Sun and many others, it is kind of a life force to XML, Java, JavaScript and CORBA 3.0 and has marked the most significant trend in the field of global software technology.

Function:

• Defining semantics for every character for most of the written languages.
• Standardizing individual script behavior
• Providing a standard algorithm for bi-directional text.
• Defining cross-mappings for other standards of texts.

The Future of Unicode: Unicode has been predicted to replace ASCII and establish itself as the worldwide character-encoding standard in the near future for modern computer use as well as for publishing.

The Bangla Unicode: Though there are a plethora of Bangla Unicode that are available in the Internet, only a few are worth the mention. The first one to fit the bill is definitely the Ekushey Unicode Bangla Keyboards; it is a complete Unicode solution for typing in Bangla consisting two Unicode Bangla fonts and two keyboard layouts. Apple Advance Typography (AAT) has been used to develop the fonts for the package, which makes them platform independent and usable for the Mac OS X as well.

 For Bengali translation by native translator contact www.indianscripts.com

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