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A comment on Why Is Swift's String API So Hard?. Parent comment

Re:Why Is Swift's String API So Hard? by richardwhiuk on Friday November 06, 2015 @11:16AM (#10520218)
That's not true. Firstly, a single tweet doesn't necessarily fit into a single SMS (as the Twitter limit is per character, whereas an SMS is limited per byte).

Secondly, an SMS is limited to 140 bytes, which is 160 7 bit 'characters', or 140 8 bit 'characters' or 70 16 bit 'characters' (in UCS 2, normally).

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Re:Why Is Swift's String API So Hard? by mikeash on Friday November 06, 2015 @11:26AM (#10520270)
It was true. Twitter heavily emphasized SMS back when it was new.

The 140-thingy limit hasn't been about SMS for a while now, and has just transitioned into a weird artificial limitation that's become part of what Twitter is. But that is how it started out.

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