What advantage is there to using UTF-8 over UTF-16? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
UTF8, UTF16, and UTF32

I am always reading things saying to write my source code in UTF-8 and stay way from other encodings, but it also seems like UTF-16 is an improved version of UTF-8. What is the difference between them, and is there any advantage to either one?

Answer 1

This should help :)

http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-utf-8-and-utf-16/

Summary:

1. UTF-8 and UTF-16 are both used for encoding characters
2. UTF-8 uses a byte at the minimum in encoding the characters while UTF-16 uses two
3. A UTF-8 encoded file tends to be smaller than a UTF-16 encoded file
4. UTF-8 is compatible with ASCII while UTF-16 is incompatible with ASCII
5. UTF-8 is byte oriented while UTF-16 is not
6. UTF-8 is better in recovering from errors compared to UTF-16