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The **`char`** type was the original character type in C and C++. The **`char`** type can be used to store characters from the ASCII character set or any of the ISO-8859 character sets, and individual bytes of multi-byte characters such as Shift-JIS or the UTF-8 encoding of the Unicode character set. In the Microsoft compiler, **`char`** is an 8-bit type. It's a distinct type from both **`signed char`** and **`unsigned char`**. By default, variables of type **`char`** get promoted to **`int`** as if from type **`signed char`** unless the [`/J`](../build/reference/j-default-char-type-is-unsigned.md) compiler option is used. Under **`/J`**, they're treated as type **`unsigned char`** and get promoted to **`int`** without sign extension.
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The **`char`** type was the original character type in C and C++. The **`char`** type stores characters from the ASCII character set or any of the ISO-8859 character sets, and individual bytes of multi-byte characters such as Shift-JIS or the UTF-8 encoding of the Unicode character set. In the Microsoft compiler, **`char`** is an 8-bit type. It's a distinct type from both **`signed char`** and **`unsigned char`**. By default, variables of type **`char`** get promoted to **`int`** as if from type **`signed char`** unless the [`/J`](../build/reference/j-default-char-type-is-unsigned.md) compiler option is used. Under **`/J`**, they're treated as type **`unsigned char`** and get promoted to **`int`** without sign extension.
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The type **`unsigned char`** is often used to represent a *byte*, which isn't a built-in type in C++.
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The **`wchar_t`** type is an implementation-defined wide character type. In the Microsoft compiler, it represents a 16-bit wide character used to store Unicode encoded as UTF-16LE, the native character type on Windows operating systems. The wide character versions of the Universal C Runtime (UCRT) library functions use **`wchar_t`** and its pointer and array types as parameters and return values, as do the wide character versions of the native Windows API.
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The **`char8_t`**, **`char16_t`**, and **`char32_t`** types represent 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit wide characters, respectively. (**`char8_t`** is new in C++20 and requires the [`/std:c++20`](../build/reference/std-specify-language-standard-version.md) or **`/std:c++latest`** compiler option.) Unicode encoded as UTF-8 can be stored in the **`char8_t`** type. Strings of **`char8_t`** and **`char`** type are referred to as *narrow* strings, even when used to encode Unicode or multi-byte characters. Unicode encoded as UTF-16 can be stored in the **`char16_t`** type, and Unicode encoded as UTF-32 can be stored in the **`char32_t`** type. Strings of these types and **`wchar_t`** are all referred to as *wide* strings, though the term often refers specifically to strings of **`wchar_t`** type.
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In the C++ standard library, the `basic_string` type is specialized for both narrow and wide strings. Use `std::string` when the characters are of type **`char`**, `std::u8string` when the characters are of type **`char8_t`**, `std::u16string` when the characters are of type **`char16_t`**, `std::u32string` when the characters are of type **`char32_t`**, and `std::wstring` when the characters are of type **`wchar_t`**. Other types that represent text, including `std::stringstream` and `std::cout` have specializations for narrow and wide strings.
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In the C++ standard library, the [`basic_string`](/cpp/standard-library/basic-string-class) type is specialized for both narrow and wide strings. Use `std::string` when the characters are of type **`char`**, `std::u8string` when the characters are of type **`char8_t`**, `std::u16string` when the characters are of type **`char16_t`**, `std::u32string` when the characters are of type **`char32_t`**, and `std::wstring` when the characters are of type **`wchar_t`**.
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Other types that represent text, including [`std::stringstream`](/cpp/standard-library/sstream-typedefs/#stringstream) and [`std::cout`](/cpp/standard-library/iostream#cout) have specializations for narrow and wide strings.
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