Data, systems and interfaces
UTF
Abbreviation for Unicode Transformation Format
In short and in plain language
UTF is a rule for how a computer stores letters and signs.
If all programs read a file by the same rule, special letters come out right.
If not, question marks or wrong signs often appear.
Definition
UTF refers to methods for storing the characters of the Unicode standard as bytes. If all systems involved read a file in the same encoding, umlauts and special characters appear correctly.