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Canonical equivalence relates Unicode sequences that represent the same abstract text through canonically interchangeable representations. A precomposed character and its canonical decomposition are an important example. Unicode normalization makes canonically equivalent sequences share a specified normal form.^[ref]

The single code point U+00E9 and the pair U+0065 U+0301 differ in length and stored code units, but represent canonically equivalent accented text. NFD maps both to the decomposed pair, while NFC maps both to the composed character. Comparing raw bytes would miss that relationship if the representations differ. In contrast, the circled digit U+2460 and ordinary 1 have compatibility equivalence without canonical equivalence. Canonical normalization thus preserves more distinctions than the compatibility forms.

Compatibility equivalence relates Unicode sequences whose compatibility decompositions agree, including distinctions that may matter in some contexts. It includes canonical matches but can additionally identify characters differing in formatting or conventional presentation. Unicode normalization forms NFKD and NFKC use these broader decompositions.^[ref]

For example, the circled digit U+2460 and ordinary digit U+0031 both normalize to 1 under NFKC. NFC retains their distinction. A circled list marker and an ordinary numeral can therefore become indistinguishable under compatibility normalization, even when an application wanted to preserve the original notation. The choice is a representation policy, not a test of visual similarity: applying compatibility normalization requires deciding which distinctions the task may safely discard.

Unicode normalization maps text to a specified standard representation while respecting a chosen equivalence relation between Unicode sequences. Canonical normalization uses canonical equivalence; compatibility normalization additionally uses compatibility equivalence. NFD decomposes canonical combinations, NFC then composes where permitted, and NFKD/NFKC additionally apply compatibility decompositions.^[ref]

For example, U+00E9 and U+0065 U+0301 represent canonically equivalent accented text. NFD produces the second sequence from either input, while NFC produces the first. NFKC also changes the circled digit U+2460 to the ordinary digit U+0031; NFC preserves that compatibility distinction. The choice consequently depends on which distinctions an application intends to retain. Unicode normalization is different from choosing a character encoding or a font, and it does not make every visually similar pair of strings equal.