Clarifying invisible characters for encoding task
The task emphasizes no spaces before the first and after the last word, but it doesn't mention zero-width non-breaking spaces or hyphens. These invisible characters may be present and can affect the byte count. Python reveals them, and each ZWNBSP or non-breaking hyphen adds 3 bytes. It's worth considering whether contestants are expected to account for these characters. The question asks about UTF-8 encoding, but not the file content itself.
Considering invisible characters in contest text
It’s unusual for hyphens to be surrounded by zero-width characters without a mention, but it’s possible they were used to avoid automatic line breaks. The user’s transcription shows zero-width characters (like U+FEFF and U+2011), which might stem from training materials like Яндекс.Контест or Информатика ЕГЭ. This suggests the presence of hidden formatting characters, like soft hyphens or zero-width joiners.
Verifying text byte count for file
We should treat the characters in the text as part of the file because the question shows the same string. The string includes Cyrillic characters and zero-width non-breaking space (ZWNBSP) characters. After breaking it down, the total byte count for the string is 63 bytes. I'll be careful about rechecking this to avoid errors, but using Python should handle it correctly.
Confirming file size answer
The question asks for the "file size," and while they likely just want the number, I'll include a brief explanation. Given that the string includes characters like ZWNBSP and NB hyphen, the answer I compute is 63 bytes. The exam may not require considering invisible characters, so the typical answer might be around 53 or 59 bytes.
Thought for 58s
