Symbols for Developers
A 10-part technical series for working with Unicode in real code — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, regex, URLs, and font subsetting.
-
1
HTML Entities: The Complete Guide to Character References
Master HTML entities — named references, numeric codes, hex notation, when escaping is required, and a reference table of the most useful entities.
-
2
CSS Content Property: Using Unicode Symbols in Stylesheets
Learn to use Unicode characters in CSS — the content property, escape sequences, custom list markers, decorative elements, and accessibility considerations.
-
3
Unicode-Aware Regex: Property Escapes and Multilingual Patterns
Write regex patterns that work with Unicode — property escapes, script detection, emoji matching, and common pitfalls in JavaScript and Python.
-
4
JavaScript and Unicode: Strings, Code Points, and Grapheme Clusters
Navigate JavaScript's UTF-16 string model — surrogate pairs, codePointAt, for...of iteration, Intl.Segmenter, and common Unicode pitfalls.
-
5
Python and Unicode: The Complete Developer's Guide
Master Unicode in Python — str vs bytes, unicodedata module, encoding/decoding, file I/O, normalization, and the Unicode sandwich pattern.
-
6
Unicode in URLs: Percent-Encoding, Punycode, and IRIs
Understand how Unicode characters appear in URLs — percent-encoding for paths, Punycode for domains, IRIs, and Python/JavaScript encoding functions.
-
7
IDN Homograph Attacks: When Unicode Becomes a Security Threat
Learn how attackers use Unicode lookalike characters to create phishing domains — how IDN homograph attacks work and how browsers defend against them.
-
8
Web Fonts and Unicode Subsetting: Loading Only What You Need
Optimize web font loading with unicode-range subsetting — reduce font file sizes, improve load times, and handle multilingual content efficiently.
-
9
Character Encoding Detection: How to Identify Unknown Text Encoding
Detect character encodings in unknown text — BOM sniffing, statistical analysis with chardet, ICU detection, and why heuristics sometimes fail.
-
10
Unicode Collation: How to Sort Text Correctly Across Languages
Master Unicode collation — the Unicode Collation Algorithm, locale-aware sorting in JavaScript and Python, PostgreSQL ICU collations, and common pitfalls.