ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Character encoding

Character encoding is like a secret code for computers. Computers use it to store and display text characters (like letters and numbers) so that everybody can see the same thing. It's like how people learn special codes like Morse Code, where 'dots' and 'dashes' stand for different letters. Character encoding is like that, except it stands for the letters of all the different languages around the world.