internationalisatielagen

Internationalisatielagen, also known as internationalization or i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the first 'i' and the last 'n' in the word), is the process of designing software so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. This involves abstracting user interface text and other locale-specific content from the code, allowing for easy translation and adaptation to different languages, cultural norms, and technical requirements of a target locale.

The primary goal of internationalization is to make software products easily adaptable to different languages and regions, thereby expanding their market reach and user base. This is achieved through several key practices:

1. Separating locale-specific data from the code: This includes text, images, and other media that may need to be translated or adapted.

2. Using Unicode for character encoding: This ensures that the software can handle a wide range of characters from different languages.

3. Providing mechanisms for locale-specific formatting: This includes date, time, numbers, and currency formats.

4. Designing the user interface to accommodate varying text lengths and directions: This is particularly important for languages that are written from right to left, such as Arabic and Hebrew.

Internationalization is a crucial step in the software development process, as it sets the foundation for localization, which is the process of adapting the software to a specific language and region. By following internationalization best practices, software developers can create products that are more accessible, user-friendly, and successful in global markets.