Software internationalisation and localisation: practice and evolution

Programming continues to be an increasingly complex task. Developing new software and re-engineering existing software for the international market adds further complexity to the process. A better understanding of software internationalisation and localisation approaches helps managers to supervise development teams more efficiently and effectively. Such an understanding will also help programmers to be more productive by developing software in standard ways that provide the necessary flexibility. This paper proposes a classification of approaches to software internationalisation and localisation. It summarises them as an evolutionary sequence, ranging from the early localisation-only approach up to the current internationalisation-before-localisation approaches. It is suggested that managers and programmers should be aware of these approaches to define and regulate their development processes in a way that facilitates current and fttture internationalisation and localisation requirements.