Internationalization and localization
Internationalization and localization both are a way to adapt things for non-native environment, mostly other nations.
Though uncommon, sometimes internationalization is abbreviated as I18N (the '18' stands for the 18 letters missed out) and L10N is an abbreviation for localization: the 10 stands for the 10 inner letters that have been suppressed.
Subjects that they need to cover include:
- date/time format (UTC in internationalized environments)
- currency
- language (alphabets, numerals and left-to-right Vs. right-to-left) (Unicode).
- profanity
- names and titles
- SSN and passports
- telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes
- weights and measures.
Internationalization is the same as to add a framework for multiple language support. It is often used to refer to the process whereby something (a corporation, idea, highway, war, etc.) comes to affect more than one nation. This usage has become uncommon and globalization is preferably used instead.
The distinction between internationalization and localization is often subtle but important to notice. As internationalization is to adapt things to be used in virtually everywhere, localization is to put special features for local use. Subjects unique to localization include:
- language translation
- special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages
- local customs
- morals
- local contents
- symbols
- Aesthetics
- cultural values and social context
Due to the results of globalization, many companies and products find themselves in many countries worldwide. This has given rise to increasing requirements for localization of products and services.
Also, as an alternative to economic globalization, localization has been used to describe the process of concentrating production of goods nearer their end-users, rather than wherever the lowest costs are. The idea is to cut down environmental and other external costs that can occur with the extra transportation and regional specialisation that globalization encourages.
Since free software can be freely modified and redistributed it is also more apt to be internationalized. Most proprietary software is not translated into languages that are not considered to be economically viable. An example of a project that has been translated into over 70 languages is KDE [1].
See also
- sustainable development
- CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
- Bidirectional script support