--- /dev/null
+# This file is part of NIT (http://www.nitlanguage.org).
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Base for codecs to use with streams
+#
+# A Codec (Coder/Decoder) is a tranformer from a byte-format to another
+#
+# As Nit Strings are UTF-8, a codec works as :
+# - Coder: From a UTF-8 string to a specified format (writing)
+# - Decoder: From a specified format to a UTF-8 string (reading)
+module codec_base
+
+import text
+import bytes
+
+# Codes UTF-8 entities to an external format
+abstract class Coder
+
+ # Transforms `c` to its representation in the format of `self`
+ fun code_char(c: Char): Bytes is abstract
+
+ # Adds a char `c` to bytes `s`
+ fun add_char_to(c: Char, s: Bytes) is abstract
+
+ # Transforms `s` to the format of `self`
+ fun code_string(s: Text): Bytes is abstract
+
+ # Adds a string `s` to bytes `b`
+ fun add_string_to(s: Text, b: Bytes) is abstract
+end
+
+# Decodes entities in an external format to UTF-8
+abstract class Decoder
+
+ # Decodes a char from `b` to a Unicode code-point
+ fun decode_char(b: Bytes): Char is abstract
+
+ # Decodes a string `b` to UTF-8
+ fun decode_string(b: Bytes): String is abstract
+end
--- /dev/null
+# This file is part of NIT (http://www.nitlanguage.org).
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Group module for all codec-related manipulations
+module codecs
+
+import codec_base
+import utf8
--- /dev/null
+# This file is part of NIT (http://www.nitlanguage.org).
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Codec for UTF-8 I/O
+module utf8
+
+import codec_base
+
+# Returns UTF-8 entities as-is
+private class UTF8Coder
+ super Coder
+
+ redef fun code_char(c) do return c.to_s.to_bytes
+
+ redef fun add_char_to(c, stream) do c.to_s.append_to_bytes(stream)
+
+ redef fun code_string(s) do return s.to_bytes
+
+ redef fun add_string_to(s, b) do s.append_to_bytes(b)
+end
+
+# Decodes entities in an external format to UTF-8
+private class UTF8Decoder
+ super Decoder
+
+ redef fun decode_char(b) do
+ var s = b.to_s
+ return s[0]
+ end
+
+ redef fun decode_string(b) do
+ return b.to_s
+ end
+end
+
+# Returns the instance of a UTF-8 Coder
+fun utf8_coder: Coder do return once new UTF8Coder
+# Returns the instance of a UTF-8 Decoder
+fun utf8_decoder: Decoder do return once new UTF8Decoder