Emoji Unicode Codes and Sequences
Single-code-point emoji
The grinning face is U+1F600 and the thumbs up is U+1F44D. These are single Unicode code points, so they have one decimal value and one UTF-8 byte sequence.
The emoji directory lists the code point notation for every entry so you can compare characters without relying on fonts.
Sequences and ZWJ
Many emoji are sequences of code points joined by the zero-width joiner U+200D. A family emoji, for example, joins a man, woman, and child code points.
Skin-tone modifiers such as U+1F3FB follow a person emoji as a second code point in the sequence.
Copy the right form
Copying the literal emoji is best for text and social media. Copying the code point list or UTF-8 bytes is best for documentation and software.
When an emoji renders as two characters, check whether it is a sequence before treating it as a bug.