Software localization is the act of adapting software to match the culture and language of an end-user. You adjust to the cultural norms and language patterns of the people who will use it in any given geographic region. As a result, this improves user experience regardless of where the user is around the world. In addition, localization of software helps increase your client base, which translates to growth. Here are three major steps to creating a reliable software localization roadmap.
Examining the Application Framework.
Adapting your software to new audiences refers to software localization. To do so, ensure that you can account for internationalization in the code (i18n). That implies the first step is to analyze your application framework. The analysis determines whether your localization software will support the internationalization process. After you've completed this, you should have a clear understanding of any limits imposed by the framework. Then, your application framework will determine your capacity to internationalize your software.
Allowing for cultural formatting
Ensure that the source code can identify distinct regional languages or cultural preferences. This is what enables the localization of software. You can include localization data and locale-specific components in your source library. You should ensure that your code recognizes:
- Dates and times
- Honorifics.
- Writing systems
- Telephone numbers
- Number formats
- Calendars
- Personal names
Furthermore, translated text may take up more or less space than the source language. This makes your clean, well-laid-out design appear crowded or indecipherable when translated. Your design must allow text string extension and contraction in translated languages.
Code and focus on your strings
When adapting your software to international audiences, your strings will be the most important to localize. The localization string process is best carried out during the design and development phase rather than after. A few best practices for localization strings will make your job easier. To begin, avoid hard-coded strings.
Second, avoid concatenating your strings. You should include separate files for each language in your software application. To prepare your code for localization, you must extract all text from an application and store it outside the code. Yes, you can hard-code text within a software application. But it is better to establish separate files for each language.
This way, you can export and import them without affecting the rest of the code. Keep the content of file formats as tidy as possible by nesting the strings to arrange each set of translations logically. Make a naming convention for each string so you know what part of the text you're referring to. For example, you can use tags such as headlines. Then, you can internationalize your software regardless of your programming language or technology.
You'll expand into worldwide markets with robust localization workflow management solutions. They enable your team to communicate, manage, and review translations productively and efficiently. Software localization also means you can get more bang from your applications. Developing it into the development stage of your work has a major impact. It takes a small amount of extra money to switch your software from being acceptable for one language or country to diverse audiences.
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