JEP 267: Unicode 8.0

Summary

Upgrade existing platform APIs to support version 8.0 of the Unicode Standard.

Goals

Support the latest version of Unicode, with changes to the following classes:

• Character and String in the java.lang package,
• NumericShaper in the java.awt.font package, and
• Bidi, BreakIterator, and Normalizer in the java.text package.

Non-Goals

Two related Unicode specifications will not be implemented by this JEP:

• UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm, and
• UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing.

Motivation

Unicode is an evolving industry standard, so we must keep Java to date with the latest version.

Description

This is a follow-on to JEP 227, which introduced Unicode 7.0 in JDK 9. Unicode 8.0 adds an additional ~8,000 characters, 10 blocks, and 6 scripts.

Testing

We will need to verify that the latest Unicode data is correctly used by the relevant classes.

Risks and Assumptions

• Unicode 8 was released in June 2015. While fairly late in JDK 9 development, it is important to always implement the latest Unicode standard. Deferring until JDK 10 would put us more than three years behind.

• It's possible that a minor update to the Unicode Standard (e.g., 8.0.X) will be released before JDK 9 ships, in which case we may want to consider incorporating that version.

Dependences

This feature depends on the Unicode Standard of the Unicode Consortium.