# Unicode: a shared catalogue of characters

[Concepts explained](README.md)

**Unicode** gives letters, punctuation, symbols, and many other text elements shared numbers and rules. That lets programs exchange text from different writing systems. Your name can contain `é`, your message can contain `ありがとう`, and your game can display `🐢`.

## Three different jobs

Imagine a catalogue of picture cards:

- Unicode identifies which card you mean.
- [UTF-8](utf-8.md) describes how to store its identity in bytes.
- A **font** supplies the visible drawing of the character.

Changing the font can change how a letter looks without changing the stored text. A missing picture in a font may appear as an empty box. That does not automatically mean the text file is broken.

The [Unicode character FAQ](https://www.unicode.org/faq/char_combmark.html) explains why a visible character can sometimes involve several numbered elements.

## In Pliro

```pliro
# language: en
let greeting = "Hallo, Zoë! 🐢"
say greeting
```

The program prints the text between the quotes. The syntax directive chooses Pliro keywords; it does not restrict your text to English letters.

Unicode also helps Pliro recognize many letters in variable names. Names still follow [identifier rules](../syntax/identifiers.md). Some symbols have special jobs: quotes surround text and `#` starts a comment outside text.

## Try a name

Replace `Zoë` with a name containing an accent. Keep the quotes around the message. If a character looks wrong, check the font and encoding before changing the program's logic.

[Code points and visible characters](code-points.md) · [Text](../syntax/text.md)