Exended ASCII and code pages [was Re: for / while else doesn't make sense]

[Marko Rauhamaa]

Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info>:
> This concept of ASCII = "all character sets", or "nearly all", or
> "okay, maybe not nearly all of them, but just the important ones" is
> terribly Euro-centric. The very idea would be laughable in Japan and
> other East Asian countries, where Shift-JIS and Big5 still dominate.

Shift-JIS and Big5 are ASCII derivatives:

   >>> "hello".encode("shift-JIS")
   b'hello'
   >>> "hello".encode("big5")
   b'hello'

> So please, open your mind to the reality of computing outside of
> Europe.

ASCII derivatives are in wide use in the Americas and Antarctica as
well. They have been spotted in Australia, New Zealand, Oceania and
Africa. You shouldn't be surprized if you run into them in Asia, either.


Marko