title: What is character encoding and why should I bother with it
body: <p>I am quite confused about the concept of <em>character encoding</em>.</p>
  
  <p>What is Unicode, GBK, etc? How does a programming language use them?</p>
  
  <p>Do I need to bother knowing about them? Is there a simpler or faster way of programming without having to trouble myself with them?</p>