Why are the PHP multi-byte string functions (the ones which start with mb_
) not used by default in PHP?
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The double-negative way of asking is a little unusual. – spender Oct 03 '12 at 20:09
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4Compatibility! (The answer to 99% of "why isn't this better thing the default?" questions.) – Ry- Oct 03 '12 at 20:09
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2Compatibility ***and*** shitty design. – user703016 Oct 03 '12 at 20:14
2 Answers
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Backwards compatibility. Old PHP scripts depend on non-multibyte functionality.
See also: http://www.php.net/manual/en/mbstring.overload.php

Frank Farmer
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