#Character Encoding

• Deconstructing JavaScript String Length: Unicode, UTF-16, and the Grapheme Cluster

  7 min read • Published on March 20, 2023 • Last Updated On July 17, 2025

  When '👨‍👩‍👧‍👦'.length returns 11 instead of 1, it reveals a fundamental misalignment between developer intuition and the computer’s representation of text. This isn’t a JavaScript quirk—it’s a window into the complex history of character encoding, from the economic constraints of 1960s teleprinters to the global demands of modern computing.