utf8mb4turkishci

UTF8MB4TurkishCI is a character set and collation combination used in MySQL and MariaDB databases. The "UTF8MB4" part refers to the character set, which is a superset of UTF-8 that supports the entire Unicode character set, including emojis and other special characters. The "TurkishCI" part refers to the collation, which is a set of rules that determine how strings are compared and sorted. The "CI" stands for "case insensitive," meaning that the collation treats uppercase and lowercase letters as equivalent.

UTF8MB4TurkishCI is particularly useful for applications that need to store and process text in Turkish, as it includes special rules for handling Turkish characters such as the dotless i (ı) and the dotted I (İ). For example, in this collation, "I" and "ı" are considered equal, while "İ" and "i" are not. This is in line with the Turkish alphabet, where "I" and "ı" are considered variants of the same letter, while "İ" and "i" are distinct letters.

UTF8MB4TurkishCI is also useful for applications that need to store and process text in multiple languages, as it supports the entire Unicode character set. However, it may not be the best choice for applications that need to perform complex string comparisons or sorting, as the rules for Turkish are not always intuitive and may not match the expectations of users.

In summary, UTF8MB4TurkishCI is a character set and collation combination that is useful for applications that need to store and process text in Turkish or other languages that use the Unicode character set. It includes special rules for handling Turkish characters and treats uppercase and lowercase letters as equivalent. However, it may not be the best choice for applications that need to perform complex string comparisons or sorting.