Character constants containing multiple characters within the single quotation marks have a value determined by the compiler. The value of a character constant represented by an octal or hexadecimal escape sequence is the same as the octal or hexadecimal value of the escape sequence. There is a limit of four characters for any one character constant. Note that the byte ordering of character constants is platform specific. 1.8.3.1 Wide Characters C provides for an extended character set through the use of wide characters .
Wide characters are characters too large to fit in the char type.
A character constant in the extended character set is written using a preceding L , and is called a wide-character constant . Wide-character constants can be represented with octal or hexadecimal character escape sequences, just like normal character escape sequences, but with the preceding L . Strings composed of wide characters can also be formed. The array is just long enough to hold the characters in the string and the wide null character, and is initialized with the specified characters. The null character at the end of a wide-character string is 32 bits long.