Guide to Globalizing Windows Applications

JimCricket writes "Does your application need to be usable in multiple countries? Art & Logic has posted a handbook for developers who want to globalize their applications. The handbook gives design and implementation tips, plus code samples for globalization on Windows applications."

Comments

"Globalize?"

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Since when did the term become "globalize?" I was under the impression that the word was still "internationalize."

Not so -- globalization is real

[GCP]

Globalization = Internationalization + Localization.

Globalization is universal internationalization plus the form of localization that is used when you have a universal foundation.

Some people have claimed internationalization by merely covering major European languages, arguing that since it covers multiple national languages, it is internationalized.

Globalization closes that loophole by aiming for "global" coverage -- a universal foundation capable of handling all languages (for some practical, as opposed to literal, definition of "all").

It also includes the "localization as skins" form of localization. Traditional localization tended to produce different products for different languages. Globalization is an architectural approach that starts by creating a single, universal foundation (the "internationalization" part), then it adds a selection of localized skins (localization, but the new kind, not the old kind) to complete the app for all locales for which skins are available, and making it functional even for languages for which localized skins are not available. (In other words, even if there is no Greek UI, you can still do Greek work thru the English UI, but your menus and manuals will be in English.)