Handling UTF-8 in C++

Question

To find out if C++ is the right language for a project of mine, I wanna test the UTF-8 capabilities. According to references, I built this example:

#include <string>
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
    wstring str;
    while(getline(wcin, str)) {
        wcout << str << endl;
        if(str.empty()) break;
    }

    return 0;
}

But when I type in an UTF-8 character, it misbehaves:

$ > ./utf8 
Hello
Hello
für
f
$ >

Not only it doesn't print the ü, but also quits immediately. gdb told me there was no crash, but a normal exit, yet I find that hard to believe.

Answer 1

Don't use wstring on Linux.

std::wstring VS std::string

Take a look at first answer. I'm sure it answers your question.

1. When I should use std::wstring over std::string?

On Linux? Almost never (§).

On Windows? Almost always (§).