What does interna­tional­iza­tion (i18n) mean?

i18n: definition and abbreviation

The abbreviation i18n stands for “internationalization”: there are 18 letters between the first “i” and the last “n.” It refers to the technical preparation. Texts, date formats, currencies, and sorting rules are not hard-wired into the code but loaded depending on language and region (locale).

Localization (l10n) builds on this. It translates the content and adapts it to a market, for example forms of address, images, units of measurement, or legal texts. Anyone who implements i18n cleanly first can add further languages later with manageable effort, without touching the application itself.

What to consider in interna­tional­iza­tion

An internationalized application consistently separates content from technology. There are proven standards and libraries for this, such as the Intl API in JavaScript, the ICU libraries, and the regional data of the Unicode CLDR. They provide correct formats and sorting for many regions. Typical building blocks:

• Texts in language files instead of source code, with room for longer translations
• UTF-8 character encoding for umlauts, accents, and other scripts
• Formats for date, time, numbers, and currency per region
• Plural rules and grammar that differ by language
• Right-to-left layouts for Arabic or Hebrew
• Language switching and separate URLs per language

Real-world example: software for heating contractors

A provider of maintenance software for heating contractors wants to offer its app in Austria and Switzerland as well. In Austria, individual terms differ, for example “Jänner” instead of “Januar”; in Switzerland the Swiss franc applies and “ss” is written instead of “ß,” and number and date formats also differ in detail.

Because the app was internationalized from the start, new language files and regional settings are enough. Without i18n, the code would have to be adjusted in many places, and every new market would become its own development project with its own testing and maintenance effort, recurring with every program change.

Benefits, limits, and common mistakes

Internationalization lowers the cost of every additional language and avoids errors. It does not replace a good translation, though, and not every project needs it. Retrofitting is considerably more work than clean planning at the start of a project, because texts and formats are then scattered throughout the code.

• Sentences assembled from text blocks that break word order in other languages
• Fixed widths for buttons although translations get longer
• Images with embedded text
• Assuming every name consists of a first and last name
• Date and number formats hard-wired in the code

Interna­tional­iza­tion for websites

For websites, the search engine side is added: separate URLs per language, hreflang references, translated metadata, and a language selector that does not redirect visitors against their will. Nano Concepts plans multilingual websites and applications from the start so that further languages can be added without a rebuild.