Presentation: Internationalization and Localization Done Right

Sunday 2:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Internationalization and Localization Done Right

Ruchi Varshney

Audience level:: Intermediate
Category:: Best Practices/Patterns

Description

A short intro to all aspects of making your Python web app ready for an international audience, right from marking Python source, templates and Javascript for translation to working with translation services, maintaining and testing translation files. The talk will cover details on Python gettext and open-source packages such as Babel and Potpie. Examples are based on the Django i18n framework.

Abstract

Talk Overview

Introduction

Quick personal intro
- Who am I
- Hearsay Social and what we do
Why internationalize/localize?
Internationalization vs. Localization
What needs to be accounted for
- Translation of text
- Formatting of dates, times, numbers
- Time zones

Prepping for Translation

Language/locale detection
Middleware
Session language key vs. HTTP Accept-Language
Python source
- gettext, ugettext, pgettext, npgettext
- gettext vs. gettext_lazy
- dbgettext
- Babel libraries for format_datetime, format_number based on locale/timezone
Templates
- trans/blocktrans tags
- gettext/ngettext
- Filters for format_datetime, format_number
- Inline javascript?
Javascript
- gettext/interpolate
- Localized datetime pickers

Working with Message Files

File format (.po files)
Generation
- Babel translation utilities that work across the board for source, templates and javascript
- Integration with setuptools/distutils
Translation services
- How they work?
- Translation memory
Compilation (.mo files)

Testing and Maintenance

Assigning a test locale and using Potpie to generate test translations that push the limits of your UI and unicode support
Jenkins CI for translation generation/checking/statistics with Polib
Dealing with half translated sites/Google translate for auto translations
Integration with translation services (tools like Transifex, Freeway etc.)