diff --git a/xs.h b/xs.h
index fc475ec..fb766ef 100644
--- a/xs.h
+++ b/xs.h
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ void _xs_destroy(char **var);
 xstype xs_type(const xs_val *data);
 int xs_size(const xs_val *data);
 int xs_is_null(const xs_val *data);
+int xs_cmp(const xs_val *v1, const xs_val *v2);
 xs_val *xs_dup(const xs_val *data);
 xs_val *xs_expand(xs_val *data, int offset, int size);
 xs_val *xs_collapse(xs_val *data, int offset, int size);
@@ -91,7 +92,6 @@ int xs_list_len(const xs_list *list);
 xs_val *xs_list_get(const xs_list *list, int num);
 xs_list *xs_list_del(xs_list *list, int num);
 xs_list *xs_list_insert(xs_list *list, int num, const xs_val *data);
-xs_list *xs_list_insert_sorted(xs_list *list, const char *str);
 xs_list *xs_list_set(xs_list *list, int num, const xs_val *data);
 xs_list *xs_list_dequeue(xs_list *list, xs_val **data, int last);
 #define xs_list_pop(list, data) xs_list_dequeue(list, data, 1)
@@ -350,6 +350,17 @@ int xs_is_null(const xs_val *data)
 }
 
 
+int xs_cmp(const xs_val *v1, const xs_val *v2)
+/* compares two values */
+{
+    int s1 = xs_size(v1);
+    int s2 = xs_size(v2);
+    int d = s1 - s2;
+
+    return d == 0 ? memcmp(v1, v2, s1) : d;
+}
+
+
 xs_val *xs_dup(const xs_val *data)
 /* creates a duplicate of data */
 {
@@ -767,28 +778,6 @@ xs_list *xs_list_insert(xs_list *list, int num, const xs_val *data)
 }
 
 
-xs_list *xs_list_insert_sorted(xs_list *list, const xs_str *str)
-/* inserts a string in the list in its ordered position */
-{
-    XS_ASSERT_TYPE(list, XSTYPE_LIST);
-    XS_ASSERT_TYPE(str, XSTYPE_STRING);
-
-    char *p, *v;
-    int offset = xs_size(list);
-
-    p = list;
-    while (xs_list_iter(&p, &v)) {
-        /* if this element is greater or equal, insert here */
-        if (strcmp(v, str) >= 0) {
-            offset = v - list;
-            break;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return _xs_list_write_litem(list, offset - 1, str, xs_size(str));
-}
-
-
 xs_list *xs_list_set(xs_list *list, int num, const xs_val *data)
 /* sets the element at #num position */
 {
diff --git a/xs_unicode.h b/xs_unicode.h
index 036c843..47e1101 100644
--- a/xs_unicode.h
+++ b/xs_unicode.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #define _XS_UNICODE_H
 
  int _xs_utf8_enc(char buf[4], unsigned int cpoint);
+ int xs_is_utf8_cont_byte(char c);
  unsigned int xs_utf8_dec(char **str);
  int xs_unicode_width(unsigned int cpoint);
  int xs_is_surrogate(unsigned int cpoint);
@@ -58,6 +59,13 @@ int _xs_utf8_enc(char buf[4], unsigned int cpoint)
 }
 
 
+int xs_is_utf8_cont_byte(char c)
+/* returns true if c is an utf8 continuation byte */
+{
+    return ((c & 0xc0) == 0x80);
+}
+
+
 unsigned int xs_utf8_dec(char **str)
 /* decodes an utf-8 char inside str and updates the pointer */
 {
@@ -86,7 +94,7 @@ unsigned int xs_utf8_dec(char **str)
     }
 
     /* process the continuation bytes */
-    while (cb > 0 && *p && (*p & 0xc0) == 0x80)
+    while (cb > 0 && *p && xs_is_utf8_cont_byte(*p))
         cpoint |= (*p++ & 0x3f) << (--cb * 6);
 
     /* incomplete or broken? */
diff --git a/xs_version.h b/xs_version.h
index c592d93..781e4ba 100644
--- a/xs_version.h
+++ b/xs_version.h
@@ -1 +1 @@
-/* 72caf9fc60c0b90f39a3c62b238d1c9663d109bc 2024-01-07T09:26:08+01:00 */
+/* e277e59e0ccbe2111aaf884c85ccadeebabd5281 2024-01-30T13:56:36+01:00 */