In this post, I share some exercises of encoding a usual string of English/Latin alphabets into a readable Unicode version with styling but still into a text that can be copied/pasted anywhere without any special app, and then transform the input text into some interesting Unicode symbols (that can also be copied/pasted anywhere as text). The first transformation is easily readable, while the second one requires some deciphering sleuth work. It’ll be fun, I provide hints, code, and solutions.
The first transformation needs no decoding as the letters are transformed into perfectly legible corresponding letters. All letters are decorated in upper-case in the outputs and the upper-cased input letters are appear as bold, upper-case as seen below in the example:
input: Hey duckies, how yall floating after the deluge?
output: 
You can try entering your own text and copy/paste the output in the widget below. The source code is shown on the left pane and the output will show on the right pane (after you click Run 
). For each new phrase, you’ll have to click Run.
Transformation App (decorated, but readable characters):
In the next transformation script, we’ll make it much more interesting by transforming each letter into non-letter symbols but still Unicode text. The transformation must be flawlessly reversible (take the symbols and turn them back into readable letters). We’re not going to transcode punctuations, spaces, and numbers.
Using that code the input: Hey duckies, how yall floating after the deluge?
is transformed into:
⚢⚟⚳ ⚞⚯⚝⚥⚣⚟⚭, ⚢⚩⚱ ⚳⚛⚦⚦ ⚠⚦⚩⚛⚮⚣⚨⚡ ⚛⚠⚮⚟⚬ ⚮⚢⚟ ⚞⚟⚦⚯⚡⚟?
Run the app below to try it out and feel free to use your own phrases. For each new phrase, you’ll have to click Run.
Transformation App (to Symbols):
Like an epigrapher, knowing the symbols so far shown above, you can try to decipher new symbols that you haven’t seen before! For example, the input example shows all letters of the alphabet and their corresponding symbols except: b, j, m, p, q, v, x, z.
To keep things simpler, the case-sensitivity of the letters do not matter (so, ‘a’ is same as ‘A’) and therefore, you don’t need to worry about deciphering the up-cased vs lower-cased letters. Everything is, say, in lower case symbols.
With the provided hints and examples, can you decipher the following phrases?
⚭⚢⚟ ⚭⚟⚦⚦⚭ ⚭⚟⚛⚭⚢⚟⚦⚦⚭ ⚜⚳ ⚮⚢⚟ ⚭⚟⚛⚭⚢⚩⚬⚟.
⚣ ⚮⚢⚣⚨⚥, ⚮⚢⚟⚬⚟⚠⚩⚬⚟ ⚣ ⚛⚧.
⚪⚟⚛⚝⚟ ⚜⚟⚡⚣⚨⚭ ⚱⚣⚮⚢ ⚛ ⚭⚧⚣⚦⚟.
After you’ve decoded some of them, you can try the Reverse Transformaton app below for solutions. You can copy the above symbolic phrases and paste them as inputs in the app below. This app takes those Unicode symbols and transforms (“translates”) them to readable, corresponding letters using the same key used for transformation ensuring an accurate translation in either direction. For each new phrase, you’ll have to click Run.
Reverse Transformation App:
I hope it was fun and interesting for you. Happy coding and decoding!
