Possibility to Decode Random Bytes Using UTF-8 Encoding?

In general, a random sequence of bytes is not guaranteed to be valid UTF-8. UTF-8 encoding has specific rules for how bytes are structured:

1. Single-byte characters (for ASCII): 0xxxxxxx (where x is a bit).

2. Multi-byte characters:

   • 2-byte: 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx

   • 3-byte: 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx

   • 4-byte: 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx

Each multi-byte sequence starts with specific bits (110, 1110, 11110, etc.) and is followed by continuation bytes that start with 10. Random bytes are unlikely to follow these patterns, so the sequence is likely to contain invalid byte sequences.

If you try to decode a truly random sequence of bytes as UTF-8, it's possible that:

• Some bytes may be valid and decoded correctly.

• Other bytes may not follow UTF-8's structure, causing a decoding error or invalid characters in the result.

In programming, UTF-8 decoders usually raise errors when encountering invalid sequences unless they are set to ignore or replace invalid bytes (e.g., using a replacement character).