Localization and internationalization, what's the difference?

localization internationalization
Ash picture Ash · Feb 3, 2009 · Viewed 46.9k times · Source

I was going to ask a question about preparing a desktop application to support multiple languages on the UI.

In my search for existing questions on the topic I was thinking the word "International", so I selected the Internationalization tag and read through some matching questions.

Eventually I realized I should probably be looking under questions tagged Localization instead. However it appears I'm not alone in getting these two terms mixed up.

So, what are they key differences between Localization and Internationalization?

Also, is a clear distinction between them really that important?

Answer

Hank Gay picture Hank Gay · Feb 3, 2009
Internationalization (i18n)
the process of changing your software so that it isn't hardwired to one language/locale/culture.
Localization (l10n)
the process of adding the appropriate resources to your software so that a particular language/locale is supported. It's bigger in scope than just this Wikipedia entry, but it's a good start.


The value of distinguishing between them is that (theoretically) once your program goes through the i18n process, you can then iterate many l10n processes as you need them; also, it's nice to be precise with language.

Related questions

JavaScript for detecting browser language preference

I have been trying to detect the browser language preference using JavaScript. If I set the browser language in IE in Tools>Internet Options>General>Languages, how do I read this value using JavaScript? Same problem for …

Read More
Best practice multi language website

I've been struggling with this question for quite some months now, but I haven't been in a situation that I needed to explore all possible options before. Right now, I feel like it's time to get to know the possibilities …

Read More
How to force NSLocalizedString to use a specific language

On iPhone NSLocalizedString returns the string in the language of the iPhone. Is it possible to force NSLocalizedString to use a specific language to have the app in a different language than the device ?

Read More