I don't think it's a C++ problem. You just can't transform anything developed in "ancient" times to unicode aware in a single swoop.
On the other hand, libicu is 37MB by itself, so it's not something someone can write in a weekend and ship.
Any tool which is old enough will have a thousand ways to do something. This is the inevitability of software and programming languages. In the domain of C++, which has a size mammoth now, everyone expects this huge pony to learn new tricks, but everybody has a different idea of the "new tricks", so more features are added on top of its already impressive and very long list of features and capabilities.
You want libICU built-in? There must be other folks who want that too. So you may need to find them and work with them to make your dream a reality.
So, C++ is doing fine. It's not that they omitted Unicode during the design phase. Unicode has arrived later, and it has to be integrated by other means. This is what libraries for.
On the other hand, libicu is 37MB by itself, so it's not something someone can write in a weekend and ship.
Any tool which is old enough will have a thousand ways to do something. This is the inevitability of software and programming languages. In the domain of C++, which has a size mammoth now, everyone expects this huge pony to learn new tricks, but everybody has a different idea of the "new tricks", so more features are added on top of its already impressive and very long list of features and capabilities.
You want libICU built-in? There must be other folks who want that too. So you may need to find them and work with them to make your dream a reality.
So, C++ is doing fine. It's not that they omitted Unicode during the design phase. Unicode has arrived later, and it has to be integrated by other means. This is what libraries for.