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. Software localization is often abbreviated L10n or l10n in the same manner. (The most common forms are i18n and L10n , respectively. These forms won out because many fonts do not readily distinguish uppercase I and lowercase l , but lowercase i and uppercase L are always clear.) 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, m17n for multilingualization, and r3h for reach, as in the reach of a website across countries and markets.

=Scope=

Focal points of internationalization and localization efforts include: *Language **Computer-encoded text ***Alphabets/scripts; different systems of numerals; left-to-right script vs. right-to-left scripts. Most recent systems use Unicode to solve many of these problems. **Graphical representations of text (printed materials, online images containing text) **Spoken (Audio) **sub-titles to video *Date/time format, including use of different calendars *Time zones (UTC in internationalized environments) *Currency *Profanity *Images: issues of comprehensibility and cultural appropriateness *Names and titles *Social Security numbers and passports *Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes *Weights and measures *Paper sizes

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 whereas 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.

=Internationalization of the firm=

A sphere of literature in management science focuses on the process of internationalization of the firm. The internationalization process (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977; Davidson, 1983; Kayna & Dalgic, 1992; Andersen, 1993; Eriksson, Johanson, Majkgard, & Sharma, 1997; Erramilli, Agarwal, & Dev, 2002) involves the accumulation of strategies, intangible assets, experiential knowledge, learning, and capabilities across foreign markets (London & Hart, 2004; Rugman & Verbeke, 2004; Hoskisson et. al., 2000; Chang, 1995; Delios & Beamish, 2001; Craig & Douglas, 1995).

Andersen, O. (1993) On the internationalization process of firms: a critical analysis. Journal of International Business Studies 24, 209-232.

Chang, S.J. (1995) International expansion strategy of Japanese firms: Capability building through sequential entry. Academy of Management Journal 38, 383-408.

Craig, C.S. and Douglas, S.P. (1996) Developing strategies for global markets: an evolutionary perspective. Columbia Journal of World Business 31, 70-82.

Davidson, W.H. (1983) Market similarity and market selection: Implications for international marketing strategy. Journal of Business Research 11, 439-456.

Delios, A. and Beamish, P.W. (2001) Survival and Profitability: The Roles of Experience and Intangible Assets in Foreign Subsidiary Performance. Academy of Management Journal 44 1028-1039.

Eriksson, K., Johanson, J., Majkgard, A. and Sharma, D. (1997) Experiential Knowledge and Cost in the Internationalization Process. Journal of International Business Studies 28, 337-360.

Erramilli, M.K., Agarwal, S,. and Dev, C. (2002), Choice of Non-Equity Modes: An Organizational Capability Perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 33, 223-242.

Hoskisson, R.E., Eden, L., Lau, C.M. and Wright, M. (2000) Strategy in emerging economies. Academy of Management Journal 43, 249-258.

Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (1977) The interantionalization process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International Business Studies 8 23-32.

Kayna, E. and Dalgic, T. (1992) Internationalization of Turkish construction companies: a lesson for third world countries Columbia Journal of World Business 26, 60-76.

London, T. and Hart, S.L. (2004) Reinventing strategies for emerging markets: beyond the transnational model. Journal of International Business Studies 35, 350-371.

Rugman, A.M. and Verbeke, A. (2004) A perspective on regional and global strategies of multinational enterprises. Journal of International Business Studies 35, 3-19.

=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) **Graphite (SIL) (Windows & Linux, 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) *[http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/guide/start Translate Tookit guide to localizing Free/Open Source Software] *[http://i18n.kde.org/index.php The KDE Internationalization website] *[http://www.i18nguy.com/ Internationalization (I18n), Localization (L10n), Standards, and Amusements] *[http://www.lisa.org/ Localization Industry Standards Association - Localization Best Practices] *[http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/default.mspx Microsoft Global Development and Computing Portal] *[http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/default.aspx Sorting It All Out - Michael Kaplan s random stuff of dubious value] *[http://www.speakeasy.org/~jmabel/intl1.htm Internationalization and Localization - Joe Mabel] *[http://www.localisation.ie/ Localisation Research Centre] *[http://www.electonline.org/ ELECT Online - comprehensive internationalization and localization directory]