diff --git a/core/io/encodings/binary/tags.txt b/core/io/encodings/binary/tags.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e27be7d61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/binary/tags.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/encodings.factor b/core/io/encodings/encodings.factor
index 767e9b266b..e6811b6e6d 100755
--- a/core/io/encodings/encodings.factor
+++ b/core/io/encodings/encodings.factor
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ SYMBOL: begin
 : finish-decoding ( buf ch state -- str )
     begin eq? [ decode-error ] unless drop "" like ;
 
-: decode ( seq quot -- str )
-    >r [ length <sbuf> 0 begin ] keep r> each
-    finish-decoding ; inline
+: decode ( ch state seq quot -- buf ch state )
+    [ -rot ] swap compose each ; inline
+
+: start-decoding ( seq -- buf ch state seq )
+    [ length <sbuf> 0 begin ] keep ;
+
+GENERIC: init-decoding ( stream encoding -- decoded-stream )
+
+: <decoding> ( stream decoding-class -- decoded-stream )
+    construct-empty init-decoding ;
+
+GENERIC: init-encoding ( stream encoding -- encoded-stream )
+
+: <encoding> ( stream encoding-class -- encoded-stream )
+    construct-empty init-encoding ;
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/latin1/about.txt b/core/io/encodings/latin1/about.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d40d628767
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/latin1/about.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ISO 8859-1 encoding/decoding
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/latin1/authors.txt b/core/io/encodings/latin1/authors.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f990dd0ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/latin1/authors.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Daniel Ehrenberg
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1-docs.factor b/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1-docs.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5872b2bcfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1-docs.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+USING: help.syntax help.markup ;
+IN: io.encodings.latin1
+
+HELP: latin1
+{ $class-description "This class is used for Latin 1 (ISO 8859-1) encoding and decoding" } ;
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1.factor b/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c2aa8d60a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/latin1/latin1.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+USING: io.encodings strings kernel ;
+IN: io.encodings.latin1
+
+TUPLE: latin1 stream ;
+
+M: latin1 init-decoding tuck set-latin1-stream ;
+M: latin1 init-encoding drop ;
+
+M: latin1 stream-read1
+    latin1-stream stream-read1 ;
+
+M: latin1 stream-read
+    latin1-stream stream-read >string ;
+
+M: latin1 stream-read-until
+    latin1-stream stream-read-until >string ;
+
+M: latin1 stream-readln
+    latin1-stream stream-readln >string ;
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/latin1/tags.txt b/core/io/encodings/latin1/tags.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e27be7d61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/latin1/tags.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/.utf16.factor.swo b/core/io/encodings/utf16/.utf16.factor.swo
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01be8fdab2
Binary files /dev/null and b/core/io/encodings/utf16/.utf16.factor.swo differ
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/about.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf16/about.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ffb8ebf8f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/about.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+UTF-16, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE encoding and decoding
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/authors.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf16/authors.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f990dd0ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/authors.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Daniel Ehrenberg
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/summary.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf16/summary.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b2490675aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/summary.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+UTF16 encoding/decoding
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/tags.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf16/tags.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e27be7d61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/tags.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-docs.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-docs.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c49c030ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-docs.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+USING: help.markup help.syntax io.encodings strings ;
+IN: io.encodings.utf16
+
+ARTICLE: "io.utf16" "Working with UTF16-encoded data"
+"The UTF16 encoding is a variable-width encoding. Unicode code points are encoded as 2 or 4 byte sequences."
+{ $subsection encode-utf16le }
+{ $subsection encode-utf16be }
+{ $subsection decode-utf16le }
+{ $subsection decode-utf16be }
+"Support for UTF16 data with a byte order mark:"
+{ $subsection encode-utf16 }
+{ $subsection decode-utf16 } ;
+
+ABOUT: "io.utf16"
+
+HELP: decode-utf16
+{ $values { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } { "str" string } }
+{ $description "Decodes a sequence of bytes representing a Unicode string in UTF16 format. The bytes must begin with a UTF16 byte order mark, which determines if the input is in little or big endian. To decode data without a byte order mark, use " { $link decode-utf16le } " or " { $link decode-utf16be } "." }
+{ $errors "Throws a " { $link decode-error } " if the input is malformed." } ;
+
+HELP: decode-utf16be
+{ $values { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } { "str" string } }
+{ $description "Decodes a sequence of bytes representing a Unicode string in big endian UTF16 format. The bytes must not begin with a UTF16 byte order mark. To decode data with a byte order mark, use " { $link decode-utf16 } "." }
+{ $errors "Throws a " { $link decode-error } " if the input is malformed." } ;
+
+HELP: decode-utf16le
+{ $values { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } { "str" string } }
+{ $description "Decodes a sequence of bytes representing a Unicode string in little endian UTF16 format. The bytes must not begin with a UTF16 byte order mark. To decode data with a byte order mark, use " { $link decode-utf16 } "." }
+{ $errors "Throws a " { $link decode-error } " if the input is malformed." } ;
+
+{ decode-utf16 decode-utf16le decode-utf16be } related-words
+
+HELP: encode-utf16be
+{ $values { "str" string } { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } }
+{ $description "Encodes a Unicode string as a sequence of bytes in big endian UTF16 format." } ;
+
+HELP: encode-utf16le
+{ $values { "str" string } { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } }
+{ $description "Encodes a Unicode string as a sequence of bytes in little endian UTF16 format." } ;
+
+HELP: encode-utf16
+{ $values { "str" string } { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } }
+{ $description "Encodes a Unicode string as a sequence of bytes in UTF16 format with a byte order mark." } ;
+
+{ encode-utf16 encode-utf16be encode-utf16le } related-words
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-tests.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-tests.factor
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..9800a9827d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16-tests.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+USING: tools.test io.utf16 arrays unicode.syntax ;
+
+[ { CHAR: x } ] [ { 0 CHAR: x } decode-utf16be >array ] unit-test
+[ { HEX: 1D11E } ] [ { HEX: D8 HEX: 34 HEX: DD HEX: 1E } decode-utf16be >array ] unit-test
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { BIN: 11011111 CHAR: q } decode-utf16be >array ] unit-test
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { BIN: 11011011 CHAR: x BIN: 11011011 CHAR: x } decode-utf16be >array ] unit-test
+
+[ B{ 0 120 216 52 221 30 } ] [ { CHAR: x HEX: 1d11e } encode-utf16be ] unit-test
+
+[ { CHAR: x } ] [ { CHAR: x 0 } decode-utf16le >array ] unit-test
+[ { 119070 } ] [ { HEX: 34 HEX: D8 HEX: 1E HEX: DD } decode-utf16le >array ] unit-test
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { 0 BIN: 11011111 } decode-utf16le >array ] unit-test
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { 0 BIN: 11011011 0 0 } decode-utf16le >array ] unit-test
+
+[ B{ 120 0 52 216 30 221 } ] [ { CHAR: x HEX: 1d11e } encode-utf16le ] unit-test
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c38e7845df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+! Copyright (C) 2006, 2007 Daniel Ehrenberg.
+! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
+USING: math kernel sequences sbufs vectors namespaces io.binary
+io.encodings combinators splitting ;
+IN: io.utf16
+
+SYMBOL: double
+SYMBOL: quad1
+SYMBOL: quad2
+SYMBOL: quad3
+SYMBOL: ignore
+
+: do-ignore ( -- ch state ) 0 ignore ;
+
+: append-nums ( byte ch -- ch )
+    8 shift bitor ;
+
+: end-multibyte ( buf byte ch -- buf ch state )
+    append-nums decoded ;
+
+: begin-utf16be ( buf byte -- buf ch state )
+    dup -3 shift BIN: 11011 number= [
+        dup BIN: 00000100 bitand zero?
+        [ BIN: 11 bitand quad1 ]
+        [ drop do-ignore ] if
+    ] [ double ] if ;
+
+: handle-quad2be ( byte ch -- ch state )
+    swap dup -2 shift BIN: 110111 number= [
+        >r 2 shift r> BIN: 11 bitand bitor quad3
+    ] [ 2drop do-ignore ] if ;
+
+: (decode-utf16be) ( buf byte ch state -- buf ch state )
+    {
+        { begin [ drop begin-utf16be ] }
+        { double [ end-multibyte ] }
+        { quad1 [ append-nums quad2 ] }
+        { quad2 [ handle-quad2be ] }
+        { quad3 [ append-nums HEX: 10000 + decoded ] }
+        { ignore [ 2drop push-replacement ] }
+    } case ;
+
+: decode-utf16be ( seq -- str )
+    [ (decode-utf16be) ] decode ;
+
+: handle-double ( buf byte ch -- buf ch state )
+    swap dup -3 shift BIN: 11011 = [
+        dup BIN: 100 bitand 0 number=
+        [ BIN: 11 bitand 8 shift bitor quad2 ]
+        [ 2drop push-replacement ] if
+    ] [ end-multibyte ] if ;
+
+: handle-quad3le ( buf byte ch -- buf ch state )
+    swap dup -2 shift BIN: 110111 = [
+        BIN: 11 bitand append-nums HEX: 10000 + decoded
+    ] [ 2drop push-replacement ] if ;
+
+: (decode-utf16le) ( buf byte ch state -- buf ch state )
+    {
+        { begin [ drop double ] }
+        { double [ handle-double ] }
+        { quad1 [ append-nums quad2 ] }
+        { quad2 [ 10 shift bitor quad3 ] }
+        { quad3 [ handle-quad3le ] }
+    } case ;
+
+: decode-utf16le ( seq -- str )
+    [ (decode-utf16le) ] decode ;
+
+: encode-first
+    -10 shift
+    dup -8 shift BIN: 11011000 bitor
+    swap HEX: FF bitand ;
+
+: encode-second
+    BIN: 1111111111 bitand
+    dup -8 shift BIN: 11011100 bitor
+    swap BIN: 11111111 bitand ;
+
+: char>utf16be ( char -- )
+    dup HEX: FFFF > [
+        HEX: 10000 -
+        dup encode-first swap , ,
+        encode-second swap , ,
+    ] [ h>b/b , , ] if ;
+
+: encode-utf16be ( str -- seq )
+    [ [ char>utf16be ] each ] B{ } make ;
+
+: char>utf16le ( char -- )
+    dup HEX: FFFF > [
+        HEX: 10000 -
+        dup encode-first , ,
+        encode-second , ,
+    ] [ h>b/b swap , , ] if ; 
+
+: encode-utf16le ( str -- seq )
+    [ [ char>utf16le ] each ] B{ } make ;
+
+: bom-le B{ HEX: ff HEX: fe } ; inline
+
+: bom-be B{ HEX: fe HEX: ff } ; inline
+
+: encode-utf16 ( str -- seq )
+    encode-utf16le bom-le swap append ;
+
+: utf16le? ( seq1 -- seq2 ? ) bom-le ?head ;
+
+: utf16be? ( seq1 -- seq2 ? ) bom-be ?head ;
+
+: decode-utf16 ( seq -- str )
+    {
+        { [ utf16le? ] [ decode-utf16le ] }
+        { [ utf16be? ] [ decode-utf16be ] }
+        { [ t ] [ decode-error ] }
+    } cond ;
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/about.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf8/about.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7560b72db4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/about.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+UTF-8 encoding and decoding
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/authors.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf8/authors.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f990dd0ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/authors.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Daniel Ehrenberg
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/summary.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf8/summary.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..afd259a56b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/summary.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+UTF8 encoding/decoding
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/tags.txt b/core/io/encodings/utf8/tags.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e27be7d61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/tags.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+text
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-docs.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-docs.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..212552519c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-docs.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+USING: help.markup help.syntax io.encodings strings ;
+IN: io.encodings.utf8
+
+ARTICLE: "io.utf8" "Working with UTF8-encoded data"
+"The UTF8 encoding is a variable-width encoding. 7-bit ASCII characters are encoded as single bytes, and other Unicode code points are encoded as 2 to 4 byte sequences."
+{ $subsection encode-utf8 }
+{ $subsection decode-utf8 } ;
+
+ABOUT: "io.utf8"
+
+HELP: decode-utf8
+{ $values { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } { "str" string } }
+{ $description "Decodes a sequence of bytes representing a Unicode string in UTF8 format." }
+{ $errors "Throws a " { $link decode-error } " if the input is malformed." } ;
+
+HELP: encode-utf8
+{ $values { "str" string } { "seq" "a sequence of bytes" } }
+{ $description "Encodes a Unicode string as a sequence of bytes in UTF8 format." } ;
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-tests.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-tests.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3576471586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8-tests.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+USING: io.utf8 tools.test strings arrays unicode.syntax ;
+
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { BIN: 11110101 BIN: 10111111 BIN: 10000000 BIN: 11111111 } decode-utf8 >array ] unit-test
+
+[ { BIN: 101111111000000111111 } ] [ { BIN: 11110101 BIN: 10111111 BIN: 10000000 BIN: 10111111 } decode-utf8 >array ] unit-test
+
+[ "x" ] [ "x" decode-utf8 >string ] unit-test
+
+[ { BIN: 11111000000 } ] [ { BIN: 11011111 BIN: 10000000 } decode-utf8 >array ] unit-test
+
+[ { UNICHAR: replacement-character } ] [ { BIN: 10000000 } decode-utf8 >array ] unit-test
+
+[ { BIN: 1111000000111111 } ] [ { BIN: 11101111 BIN: 10000000 BIN: 10111111 } decode-utf8 >array ] unit-test
+
+[ B{ BIN: 11110101 BIN: 10111111 BIN: 10000000 BIN: 10111111 BIN: 11101111 BIN: 10000000 BIN: 10111111 BIN: 11011111 BIN: 10000000 CHAR: x } ]
+[ { BIN: 101111111000000111111 BIN: 1111000000111111 BIN: 11111000000 CHAR: x } encode-utf8 ] unit-test
diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8.factor
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90aec4623a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf8/utf8.factor
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+! Copyright (C) 2006, 2007 Daniel Ehrenberg.
+! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
+USING: math kernel sequences sbufs vectors growable io
+namespaces io.encodings combinators ;
+IN: io.utf8
+
+! Decoding UTF-8
+
+SYMBOL: double
+SYMBOL: triple
+SYMBOL: triple2
+SYMBOL: quad
+SYMBOL: quad2
+SYMBOL: quad3
+
+: starts-2? ( char -- ? )
+    -6 shift BIN: 10 number= ;
+
+: append-nums ( buf bottom top state-out -- buf num state )
+    >r over starts-2?
+    [ 6 shift swap BIN: 111111 bitand bitor r> ]
+    [ r> 3drop push-replacement ] if ;
+
+: begin-utf8 ( buf byte -- buf ch state )
+    {
+        { [ dup -7 shift zero? ] [ decoded ] }
+        { [ dup -5 shift BIN: 110 number= ] [ BIN: 11111 bitand double ] }
+        { [ dup -4 shift BIN: 1110 number= ] [ BIN: 1111 bitand triple ] }
+        { [ dup -3 shift BIN: 11110 number= ] [ BIN: 111 bitand quad ] }
+        { [ t ] [ drop push-replacement ] }
+    } cond ;
+
+: end-multibyte ( buf byte ch -- buf ch state )
+    f append-nums [ decoded ] unless* ;
+
+: (decode-utf8) ( buf byte ch state -- buf ch state )
+    {
+        { begin [ drop begin-utf8 ] }
+        { double [ end-multibyte ] }
+        { triple [ triple2 append-nums ] }
+        { triple2 [ end-multibyte ] }
+        { quad [ quad2 append-nums ] }
+        { quad2 [ quad3 append-nums ] }
+        { quad3 [ end-multibyte ] }
+    } case ;
+
+: decode-utf8-chunk ( ch state seq -- buf ch state )
+    [ (decode-utf8) ] decode ;
+
+: decode-utf8 ( seq -- str )
+    start-decoding decode-utf8-chunk finish-decoding ;
+
+! Encoding UTF-8
+
+: encoded ( char -- )
+    BIN: 111111 bitand BIN: 10000000 bitor , ;
+
+: char>utf8 ( char -- )
+    {
+        { [ dup -7 shift zero? ] [ , ] }
+        { [ dup -11 shift zero? ] [
+            dup -6 shift BIN: 11000000 bitor ,
+            encoded
+        ] }
+        { [ dup -16 shift zero? ] [
+            dup -12 shift BIN: 11100000 bitor ,
+            dup -6 shift encoded
+            encoded
+        ] }
+        { [ t ] [
+            dup -18 shift BIN: 11110000 bitor ,
+            dup -12 shift encoded
+            dup -6 shift encoded
+            encoded
+        ] }
+    } cond ;
+
+: encode-utf8 ( str -- seq )
+    [ [ char>utf8 ] each ] B{ } make ;
+
+! Interface for streams
+
+TUPLE: utf8 ;
+! In the future, this should detect and ignore a BOM at the beginning
+
+M: utf8 init-decoding ( stream utf8 -- utf8-stream )
+    tuck set-delegate ;
+
+M: utf8 init-encoding ( stream utf8 -- utf8-stream )
+    tuck set-delegate ;
+
+M: utf8 stream-read1 1 swap stream-read ;
+
+: space ( resizable -- room-left )
+    dup underlying swap [ length ] 2apply - ;
+
+: full? ( resizable -- ? ) space zero? ;
+
+: utf8-stream-read ( buf ch state stream -- string )
+    >r pick full? [ r> 3drop >string ]  [
+        pick space r> [ stream-read decode-utf8-chunk ] keep
+        utf8-stream-read
+    ] if ;
+
+M: utf8 stream-read
+    >r start-decoding drop r> delegate utf8-stream-read ;
+
+M: utf8 stream-read-until
+    ! Copied from { c-reader stream-read-until }!!!
+    [ swap read-until-loop ] "" make
+    swap over empty? over not and [ 2drop f f ] when ;
+
+M: utf8 stream-write1
+    >r 1string r> stream-write ;
+
+M: utf8 stream-write
+    >r encode-utf8 r> delegate stream-write ;
diff --git a/extra/delegate/protocols/protocols.factor b/extra/delegate/protocols/protocols.factor
index 1121883b7c..e6f794de53 100755
--- a/extra/delegate/protocols/protocols.factor
+++ b/extra/delegate/protocols/protocols.factor
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2007 Daniel Ehrenberg
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: delegate sequences.private sequences assocs prettyprint.sections 
-io definitions kernel ;
+io definitions kernel continuations ;
 IN: delegate.protocols
 
 PROTOCOL: sequence-protocol
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ PROTOCOL: assoc-protocol
     ! everything should work, just slower (with >alist)
 
 PROTOCOL: stream-protocol
-    stream-read1 stream-read stream-read-until
+    stream-read1 stream-read stream-read-until dispose
     stream-flush stream-write1 stream-write stream-format
     stream-nl make-span-stream make-block-stream stream-readln
     make-cell-stream stream-write-table set-timeout ;