I18n | Internationalization | Multilingualism
Internationalization, also known as I18n (where the 18 represents the number of letters between the “I” and the “N” in “Internationalization”), refers to the process of adapting software to different languages and cultures. The goal of internationalization is to enable software to be used by users from all over the world without encountering language barriers.
Some technologies used in the internationalization of software are:
Unicode: Unicode is a standard for representing text characters in computer systems that allows text to be represented in almost any language and character set.
Localization frameworks: These frameworks allow software to be localized for different languages and regions by adjusting text, dates and times, currencies, and so on. Examples of localization frameworks are GNU gettext and Java ResourceBundle.
Internationalization tools: These tools help developers create software that is suitable for different languages and regions. Examples of internationalization tools are Poedit and Transifex.
BITS experts have used I18n in a variety of projects. A selection of case studies and references can be found below.