char
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Alias of | char32 |
| Size | 4 bytes (32 bits) |
| Range | U+0000 – U+10FFFF |
| Coverage | all Unicode planes |
char is a built-in, compiler-provided alias for char32, the standard Unicode character type:
type char = char32; // compiler intrinsic alias
The alias resolves at the type-system level — there is no distinct char kind in the compiler — so char and char32 are the same type and fully interchangeable. Because char32 covers every valid Unicode scalar value without truncation, char is the right default for general-purpose text handling.
let c: char = 'Σ'; // equivalent to char32
let octopus: char = '🐙'; // supplementary-plane emoji fits
Code that explicitly needs a narrower or wider representation should use the qualified type names (char8, char16, …) to make intent clear.
Literals, Comparison, and Conversion
char behaves identically to char32 in every respect — literal syntax and escape sequences, equality and code-point ordering, the checked widening/narrowing rules, and conversion to and from integers and strings. See the char32 page for the full reference.