I'm sooooo confused. Would you please go over the rules about bytes, chars, and characters one more time?, C++ FAQ

C++ FAQ

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FAQ: I'm sooooo confused. Would you please go over the rules about bytes, `char`s, and characters one more time? ←(in the new Super-FAQ)

It's in Section: Built-in / intrinsic / primitive data types:

FAQ: Can sizeof(char) be 2 on some machines? For example, what about double-byte characters?
FAQ: What are the units of sizeof?
FAQ: Whoa, but what about machines or compilers that support multibyte characters. Are you saying that a "character" and a char might be different?!?
FAQ: But, but, but what about machines where a char has more than 8 bits? Surely you're not saying a C++ byte might have more than 8 bits, are you?!?
FAQ: Okay, I could imagine a machine with 9-bit bytes. But surely not 16-bit bytes or 32-bit bytes, right?
FAQ: I'm sooooo confused. Would you please go over the rules about bytes, chars, and characters one more time? (this FAQ)
FAQ: What is a "POD type"?
FAQ: When initializing non-static data members of built-in / intrinsic / primitive types, should I use the "initialization list" or assignment?
FAQ: When initializing static data members of built-in / intrinsic / primitive types, should I worry about the "static initialization order fiasco"?
FAQ: Can I define an operator overload that works with built-in / intrinsic / primitive types?
FAQ: When I delete an array of some built-in / intrinsic / primitive type, why can't I just say delete a instead of delete[] a?
FAQ: How can I tell if an integer is a power of two without looping?
FAQ: What should be returned from a function?