How can you ensure code follows i18n and l10n standards?

1 Choose a framework or library

One of the first steps to ensure your code follows i18n and l10n standards is to choose a framework or library that supports them. Depending on the programming language and platform you are using, you may have different options available. For example, if you are using JavaScript, you can use libraries such as React Intl, i18next, or FormatJS to handle internationalization and localization. These libraries provide features such as message formatting, pluralization, date and time formatting, number formatting, currency formatting, and locale data. They also allow you to extract and manage your translation files in a standard format, such as JSON or PO.

2 Use Unicode and UTF-8

Another important step to ensure your code follows i18n and l10n standards is to use Unicode and UTF-8 as your character encoding and data format. Unicode is a universal standard that defines a set of characters and symbols for all the languages and scripts in the world. UTF-8 is a common encoding scheme that represents Unicode characters using one to four bytes. Using Unicode and UTF-8 ensures that your code can handle any text input and output without losing or corrupting data. It also makes your code more portable and interoperable across different systems and platforms.

3 Avoid hard-coding strings and values

A common mistake that can prevent your code from following i18n and l10n standards is hard-coding strings and values that are specific to a certain language or region. For example, if you hard-code the word "Hello" or the value "$10" in your code, you will have to change them manually for every locale you want to support. This can be tedious, error-prone, and inefficient. Instead, you should use variables, constants, or external files to store your strings and values, and use a framework or library to load them dynamically based on the user's locale. This way, you can easily add, update, or delete translations without modifying your code.