Internationalization and localization are means of adapting product (business) such as publications or software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures. ==Alternative names== ''Internationalization'' is often abbreviated as I18N (or i18n or I18n), by IBM and others, where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted. "Localization" is often abbreviated l10n in the same manner. Both notions are sometimes collectively termed ''globalization'' (g11n), but that word has a more common meaning. Also seen in some circles, but less commonly, are "p13n" for personalization and "r3h" for reach, as in the ''reach'' of a website across countries and markets. ==Scope== Focal points of internationalization and localization efforts include: *Date/time format (UTC in internationalized environments) *Currency *Language (alphabets, numerals and left-to-right script vs. right-to-left) (see for example Unicode) *Profanity *Names and titles *Social Security numbers and passports *Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes *Weights and measures The distinction between internationalization and localization is subtle but important. Internationalization is the adaptation of products for ''potential'' use virtually everywhere, while localization is the addition of special features for use in a ''specific'' locale. Subjects unique to localization include: *Language translation, *Special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages, *Local customs, *Morality, *Local content, *Symbols, *Aesthetics, *Cultural values and social context. ==Difficulties== In making software products, internationalization and localization pose challenging tasks for developers, particularly if the software is not designed from the beginning with these concerns in mind. A common practice is to separate textual data and other environment-dependent resources from the program code. Thus, supporting a different environment, ideally, only requires change in those separate resources without code modification; greatly simplifying the task. The development team needs someone who understands foreign languages and cultures and has a technical background; such a person may be difficult to find. Moreover, the duplication of resources could be a maintenance nightmare. For instance, if a message displayed to the user in one of several languages is modified, all of the translated versions must be changed. Software library that aid this task are available, such as Gettext. Since free software can be freely modified and redistributed, it is more apt to internationalization. Most proprietary software is only available in languages considered to be economically viable. The KDE project, for example, has been translated into over 70 languages. ==Locale== In computing, locale is a set of parameters that defines the user's language, country and any special variant preferences that the user wants to see in their user interface. Usually a locale identifier consists of at least a language identifier and a region identifier. ==Relation to globalization== ''Internationalization'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''globalization'' to refer to economic and cultural effects of an increasingly interconnected world. While internationalization most commonly refers to the addition of a framework for multiple language support, especially in software, it sometimes refers to the process whereby something (a corporation, idea, highway, war, etc.) comes to affect multiple nations. This usage is rare; ''globalization'' is preferred. Because of globalization, many companies and products are found in multiple countries worldwide, giving rise to increasing localization requirements. ''Localization'' may describe production of goods nearer to end users to reduce environmental and other external costs of globalization. ==See also== *Bidirectional script support *CJK ''(Chinese, Japanese, Korean)'' *Glocalization *Sustainable development *Multilingual text rendering engines: **Uniscribe (Windows) **Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (New Macintosh) **WorldScript (Old Macintosh) **Pango (Open source) ==External links== *[http://www.translationbooth.com/hurricane/ Hurricane Transparent Website Localization Platform] *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/ Introduction to i18n of software] *[http://www.i18ngurus.com/ Open directory of links to internationalization resources and related material] *[http://localisationdev.org/ Information for developers about localisation of Free and Open Source Software] *W3C specifications **[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/#text-layout Text layout] **[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-ui/#nav-dir Directional focus navigation] **[http://www.w3.org/TR/xsl/slice7.html#writing-mode Writing mode] *IETF specifications **[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3490.txt Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications (IDNA)] **[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3536.txt Terminology Used in Internationalization in the IETF] *[http://www.iosn.net/l10n/foss-localization-primer/foss-localization-primer.pdf Free/Open Source Software: Localization Primer] (PDF, 1.25 Megabytes) **[http://www.knowprose.com/fosslocal "Free/Open Source Software: Localization" KnowProSE Remix 1.0] (HTML-Wikipedia Remix of PDF primer) International trade Technical communication Translation
== Jmabel's article outside Wikipedia == I know it's tacky to add links to one's own site in Wikipedia articles, so I'm drawing attention to it here on the talk page and asking that someone else consider adding it to the list of external links: [http://www.speakeasy.org/~jmabel/intl1.htm Internationalization and Localization]. I think it's a stronger introduction to the topic than the current Wikipedia article. Wikipedia also has my permission to quote extensively from my article, as long as the original is credited (basically, I'm intending to give a permission equivalent to GFDL; if there is something more I need to do, someone should let me know). -- User:Jmabel 23:59, Aug 30, 2004 (UTC) :I agree the text you wrote is better than the current article, which is primarily based on my contribution. If you don't mind we can start a new article from materials of your papers. (It's quick way to have a better article.) In any case, if you give GFDL, then we can just reuse your text just like open source program code. -- User:TakuyaMurata 00:35, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) Yes, fine. I've noticed that despite being GFDL itself, Wikipedia rarely uses other GFDL material. Consider this GFDL permission; please be as careful to correctly handle my copyright+GFDL as Wikipedia expects others to be about Wikipedia's copyright+GFDL. Let me know when you're done editing what's in my paper into Wikpedia style. Wikipedia is generally open to some more technical content than I thought was appropriate to that paper, and I'll gladly add some more specifically technical considerations to the Wikipedia article as additional sections. -- User:Jmabel 03:54, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) :I just want to point out that despite the praise, no one has taken me up on this, not even to the point of linking to my page. Again, I think it would be tacky for me to add the link myself (I feel weird enough about mentioning it again) but I really do believe it's a first-rate resource I created. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 03:36, Mar 27, 2005 (UTC) ==Title== I think the current article, and probably the above essay too, is a bit to software-centric. Internationalization and localization have existed for at least 100 years, and yet the article deals with the topic from a software-engineering standpoint through-out. Of courrse, my expertise also lies in software engineering, so I'm unable to contribute a different point of view, but perhaps someoen else can. — User:Chmod007 04:42, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC) I agree. when i came to this page, I hoped to find some of what can be found on the Globalization page. I think this article should try and focus on the wider meaning of the word, software really is not what 90% of the world population associates with the term. User:TrACE666 21:39, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC) :Then what do you propose as a title for the current material? "Internationalization and localization" is a standard term in the software industry. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 22:17, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC) ==i18n== :"Internationalization is often abbreviated as I18N (or i18n or I18n), by IBM and others, where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted." After some basic counting, it was revealed to me that only 16 letters are omitted in this abbreviation, 18 being the number of letters in the whole word. However, in the next example (l10n), 10 letters ''are'' omitted. This needs to be clarified somehow. User:Livajo|User_talk:Livajo">User:Livajo|User:Livajo|User talk:Livajo 17:02, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)
:So does "basic" counting mean "in base twelve"? Yes, there are 18 letters. Assuming we write all our numbers in base 10. -- User:Jmabel 19:16, Oct 9, 2004 (UTC)
==Commercial link==
I cut the link [http://www.translationbooth.com/translate/quickRequest.html Quick Translation Service]. It looks commercial. It also looks not terribly useful in the current state of that site. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 21:23, Jan 16, 2005 (UTC)
== Is this not against MoS policy? ==
The first words of the article were recently changed from "Internationalization and localization" to "Internationalization (or internationalisation) and localization (or localisation)". Given that no human being could possibly understand one of these spellings and fail to understand the other, and given Wikipedia's relatively ''laissez faire'' policy about which dialect of English is used for any given article, isn't this counter to the Wikipedia:Manual of Style? -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 04:56, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)
:I agree, and will revert the changes. Seriously, people, it's not that big a deal. User:Meelar User talk:Meelar 05:04, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)
::I agree also. User:Maurreen 02:55, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Internationalization_and_localization:
Internationalization_and_localization
Internationalization_and_localization
Internationalization and localization
Internationalization and localization are means of adapting product (business) such as publications or software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures. ==Alternative names== ''Internationalization'' is often abbreviated as I18N (or i18n or I18n), by IBM and others, where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted. "Localization" is often abbreviated l10n in the same manner. Both notions are sometimes collectively termed ''globalization'' (g11n), but that word has a more common meaning. Also seen in some circles, but less commonly, are "p13n" for personalization and "r3h" for reach, as in the ''reach'' of a website across countries and markets. ==Scope== Focal points of internationalization and localization efforts include: *Date/time format (UTC in internationalized environments) *Currency *Language (alphabets, numerals and left-to-right script vs. right-to-left) (see for example Unicode) *Profanity *Names and titles *Social Security numbers and passports *Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes *Weights and measures The distinction between internationalization and localization is subtle but important. Internationalization is the adaptation of products for ''potential'' use virtually everywhere, while localization is the addition of special features for use in a ''specific'' locale. Subjects unique to localization include: *Language translation, *Special support for certain languages such as East Asian languages, *Local customs, *Morality, *Local content, *Symbols, *Aesthetics, *Cultural values and social context. ==Difficulties== In making software products, internationalization and localization pose challenging tasks for developers, particularly if the software is not designed from the beginning with these concerns in mind. A common practice is to separate textual data and other environment-dependent resources from the program code. Thus, supporting a different environment, ideally, only requires change in those separate resources without code modification; greatly simplifying the task. The development team needs someone who understands foreign languages and cultures and has a technical background; such a person may be difficult to find. Moreover, the duplication of resources could be a maintenance nightmare. For instance, if a message displayed to the user in one of several languages is modified, all of the translated versions must be changed. Software library that aid this task are available, such as Gettext. Since free software can be freely modified and redistributed, it is more apt to internationalization. Most proprietary software is only available in languages considered to be economically viable. The KDE project, for example, has been translated into over 70 languages. ==Locale== In computing, locale is a set of parameters that defines the user's language, country and any special variant preferences that the user wants to see in their user interface. Usually a locale identifier consists of at least a language identifier and a region identifier. ==Relation to globalization== ''Internationalization'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''globalization'' to refer to economic and cultural effects of an increasingly interconnected world. While internationalization most commonly refers to the addition of a framework for multiple language support, especially in software, it sometimes refers to the process whereby something (a corporation, idea, highway, war, etc.) comes to affect multiple nations. This usage is rare; ''globalization'' is preferred. Because of globalization, many companies and products are found in multiple countries worldwide, giving rise to increasing localization requirements. ''Localization'' may describe production of goods nearer to end users to reduce environmental and other external costs of globalization. ==See also== *Bidirectional script support *CJK ''(Chinese, Japanese, Korean)'' *Glocalization *Sustainable development *Multilingual text rendering engines: **Uniscribe (Windows) **Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging (New Macintosh) **WorldScript (Old Macintosh) **Pango (Open source) ==External links== *[http://www.translationbooth.com/hurricane/ Hurricane Transparent Website Localization Platform] *[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/intro-i18n/ Introduction to i18n of software] *[http://www.i18ngurus.com/ Open directory of links to internationalization resources and related material] *[http://localisationdev.org/ Information for developers about localisation of Free and Open Source Software] *W3C specifications **[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/#text-layout Text layout] **[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-ui/#nav-dir Directional focus navigation] **[http://www.w3.org/TR/xsl/slice7.html#writing-mode Writing mode] *IETF specifications **[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3490.txt Internationalizing Domain Names in Applications (IDNA)] **[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3536.txt Terminology Used in Internationalization in the IETF] *[http://www.iosn.net/l10n/foss-localization-primer/foss-localization-primer.pdf Free/Open Source Software: Localization Primer] (PDF, 1.25 Megabytes) **[http://www.knowprose.com/fosslocal "Free/Open Source Software: Localization" KnowProSE Remix 1.0] (HTML-Wikipedia Remix of PDF primer) International trade Technical communication Translation
Internationalization and localization
== Jmabel's article outside Wikipedia == I know it's tacky to add links to one's own site in Wikipedia articles, so I'm drawing attention to it here on the talk page and asking that someone else consider adding it to the list of external links: [http://www.speakeasy.org/~jmabel/intl1.htm Internationalization and Localization]. I think it's a stronger introduction to the topic than the current Wikipedia article. Wikipedia also has my permission to quote extensively from my article, as long as the original is credited (basically, I'm intending to give a permission equivalent to GFDL; if there is something more I need to do, someone should let me know). -- User:Jmabel 23:59, Aug 30, 2004 (UTC) :I agree the text you wrote is better than the current article, which is primarily based on my contribution. If you don't mind we can start a new article from materials of your papers. (It's quick way to have a better article.) In any case, if you give GFDL, then we can just reuse your text just like open source program code. -- User:TakuyaMurata 00:35, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) Yes, fine. I've noticed that despite being GFDL itself, Wikipedia rarely uses other GFDL material. Consider this GFDL permission; please be as careful to correctly handle my copyright+GFDL as Wikipedia expects others to be about Wikipedia's copyright+GFDL. Let me know when you're done editing what's in my paper into Wikpedia style. Wikipedia is generally open to some more technical content than I thought was appropriate to that paper, and I'll gladly add some more specifically technical considerations to the Wikipedia article as additional sections. -- User:Jmabel 03:54, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) :I just want to point out that despite the praise, no one has taken me up on this, not even to the point of linking to my page. Again, I think it would be tacky for me to add the link myself (I feel weird enough about mentioning it again) but I really do believe it's a first-rate resource I created. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 03:36, Mar 27, 2005 (UTC) ==Title== I think the current article, and probably the above essay too, is a bit to software-centric. Internationalization and localization have existed for at least 100 years, and yet the article deals with the topic from a software-engineering standpoint through-out. Of courrse, my expertise also lies in software engineering, so I'm unable to contribute a different point of view, but perhaps someoen else can. — User:Chmod007 04:42, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC) I agree. when i came to this page, I hoped to find some of what can be found on the Globalization page. I think this article should try and focus on the wider meaning of the word, software really is not what 90% of the world population associates with the term. User:TrACE666 21:39, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC) :Then what do you propose as a title for the current material? "Internationalization and localization" is a standard term in the software industry. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 22:17, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC) ==i18n== :"Internationalization is often abbreviated as I18N (or i18n or I18n), by IBM and others, where the number 18 refers to the number of letters omitted." After some basic counting, it was revealed to me that only 16 letters are omitted in this abbreviation, 18 being the number of letters in the whole word. However, in the next example (l10n), 10 letters ''are'' omitted. This needs to be clarified somehow. User:Livajo|
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
I
IA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Internationalization_and_localization:
Internationalization_and_localization
Internationalization_and_localization
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