Variable Names and Unicode

Even though you may be entering your Java programs in an environment that stores ASCII characters,all Java source code is in Unicode. Although the original source code that you create may be ASCII, it is converted to Unicode characters internally, before it is compiled. While you can write any Java language statement using ASCII, the fact that Java supports Unicode provides you with immense flexibility. It means that the identifiers that you use in your source program can use any national language character set that is defined within the Unicode character set, so your programs can use French, Greek, or Russian variable names, for example, or even names in several different languages, as long as you have the means to enter them in the first place. The same applies to character data that your program defines.