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Mats Wichmann edited this page Jan 2, 2024 · 4 revisions

Internationalization of SCons

What are internationalization and localization?

In computing, internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation, see spelling differences) are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalization is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting internationalized software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.

Due to their length, the terms are frequently abbreviated to the numeronyms i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the i and the n in internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s) and L10n respectively. The capital L in L10n helps to distinguish it from the lowercase i in i18n.

Some companies, like Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems, use the term globalization for the combination of internationalization and localization. Globalization can also be abbreviated to g11n.

This term is also known as Native Language Support or NLS.

What are pot files?

A pot file is a template, which contains a list of all the translatable strings extracted from the sources. An entry in the .pot file would look like:

#: SConf.py:112
msgid "scons: Configure: creating %s"
msgstr ""

Guides

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalization_and_localization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_gettext

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