IT:AD:BOM

(UP)

Summary

Endian:
- A majority of mainframes and networking protocols are BigEndian
- A majority of micro chips (ie, Intel) are little endian. *

BOM Examples:
- FF FE: UCS-2LE or UTF-16LE ¹⁾
- FE FF: UCS-2BE or UTF-16BE ²⁾
- EF BB BF UTF-8 ³⁾

The BOM is not guaranteed to be in every Unicode file.
The BOM is not necessary in XML files: because the Unicode encoding can be determined from the leading less than sign.
- Can be determined from first characters of Xml:
  - 3C 00 UCS-2LE or UTF-16LE
  - 00 3C UCS-2BE or UTF-16BE
  - 3C XX UTF-8 (where XX is non-zero)

Without contextual information, a BOM, or a file type standard with a header like XML and HTML, a file should be assumed to be in the default system locale ANSI code page, governed by the Language for non-Unicode Programs in the Regional Settings on the computer on which it is found.

Refer to:
* http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/17201/Detect-Encoding-for-In-and-Outgoing-Text

This is interesing: * http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/672470/Simple-Character-Encoding-Detection