Well, depends if you want the random access to be by bytes or code points - you might have the byte indices from a previous access. Also, factor (and iirc pyth

Well, depends if you want the random access to be by bytes or code points - you might have the byte indices from a previous access. Also, factor (and iirc python too) keeps it at 8 bits if all codepoints fit in 8 bits, 16 if it fits in 16, and 32 otherwise.