Internationalization (I18N)

Definition - What does Internationalization (I18N) mean?

I18N is a process of integrating specific cultural and local features into a product or service. It indicates the internationalization of computer software.

18n is a numeronym. The i and n stand for the first i and last n in the word "internationalization," and the number 18 is the number of letters between the i and n. This term is also known as localization enablement. It is also written in lower case as i18n.

Techopedia explains Internationalization (I18N)

Internationalization processes include:

  • Extra components, such as keyboard keys to facilitate languages with large alphabets
  • Support for software and Internet product languages and character groups, or Unicode.
  • Inexpensive tools for translating text or text labels into graphic images
  • Universal symbols
  • Extra space for software applications to facilitate translation without skipped characters

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