How does UTF-8 differ from UTF-16 and UTF-32?

UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 are different encoding schemes for Unicode characters:

1. **UTF-8**: Uses 1 to 4 bytes per character. It's variable-length and backward compatible with ASCII. It is efficient for text that primarily uses ASCII characters.

2. **UTF-16**: Uses 2 or 4 bytes per character. It is also variable-length but tends to use 2 bytes for most common characters and 4 bytes for less common ones. It is useful for many Asian scripts.

3. **UTF-32**: Uses a fixed 4 bytes per character, making it simple to handle but less space-efficient compared to UTF-8 and UTF-16. It’s typically used where fixed-length character encoding is necessary.

Each encoding has its own advantages depending on the specific use case and the characteristics of the text being encoded.