# Syntax: Escape hatch for unicode haters

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/syntax-escape-hatch-for-unicode-haters/108363>\
**Category:** Internals & Design\
**Tags:** syntax, unicode\
**Created:** [January 4, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/syntax-escape-hatch-for-unicode-haters/108363 "2024-01-04T23:55:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 88

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**Author:** ![mbauman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mbauman/32/31082_2.png) [@mbauman](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mbauman)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/syntax-escape-hatch-for-unicode-haters/108363/88 "2024-01-12T16:06:25Z")

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> [@foobar\_lv2](#):
>
> I tend to simply write `\mu`, since all people who know maths know latex as well 😉
> 
> I sometimes make the mistake of ending a German plaintext email with `Mit freundlichen Gr\"u\ss{}en` to recipicients who don’t know latex or maths…

Isn’t that _effectively the same situation_, only reversed? You’re making assumptions about what your audience understands and are asking them to cater to your communication style. And there certainly exist folks who wouldn’t know that μm is \{mu}m. In fact, plain old ASCII backslashes themselves are fraught to enter in _many_ text widgets!

Here’s where it’s different: unicode is _designed for people to communicate_. Yes, it might take some effort to write unfamiliar characters. Yes, you might want to take care around [confusables](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/warning-against-unicode-confusables/108734). But code is read far more than it’s written. So write for your audience.

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