@[email protected] Sorry, I can't remember when utf8 became a big part of my life.

And I really have no idea whether the early JS team felt it was important to follow Java's practices where possible.

I do remember that when I first encountered JS and Java, around the same time (I can't put a date on it now), I was struck by how ponderous Java was - I just didn't want to go near it if I could possibly avoid it.