But CJKV Information Processing doesn't restrict itself to input and output issues. There's extensive coverage of the special issues that arise when you attempt to work with multibyte characters inside programs--especially Java programs, since that language is especially adroit at internationalization tasks. You'll find ready-to-use algorithms for detecting and converting characters among the various sets.

Almost half of the book is consumed by exhaustive character tables listing every CJKV character set ever defined by a standards body, software vendor, or other organization. Comprehensive is the operative word here--Lunde even gives space to 145 hanzi characters defined by Hong Kong's Department of the Judiciary. You'll find a full suite of keyboard mapping tables, too. With the same thoroughness and clarity that made his Understanding Japanese Information Processing such a hit among members of the Pacific Rim crowd, Ken Lunde provides an unparalleled guide to computing with the CJKV character sets. --David Wall