If Unicode had used a full 32 bits from the start, it could have usefully reserved a few bits as flags that would divide it into subspaces, and could be easily tested.

Imagine a Unicode like this:

8:8:16

- 8 bits of flags. - 8 bit script family code: 0 for BMP. - 16 bit plane for every script code and flag combination.

The flags could do usefuil things like indicate character display width, case, and other attributes (specific to a script code).

Unicode peaked too early and applied an economy of encoding which rings false now in an age in which consumer devices have two digit gigabyte memories, multi terabyte of storage, and high definition video is streamed over the internet.