Summary

Developing world-ready software for an internationalized product involves creating a functional core code base and a generic feature design that can serve as the basis for all language/locale editions of a product. This generic feature design (globalization) needs to take into account items like language; written script; sort order; input method; paper sizes; as well as date, time, number, and currency format that changes from locale to locale. The level of localization required for a program to be successful depends on the target market. The more effort you spend, the higher the risk and cost, but the greater the potential return. A major factor in keeping the localization costs down is to make sure the software and all of its supporting content (documentation, Help files, marketing material, and so on) are easily localizable (localizability). The most effective process for creating localized products takes world-readiness considerations into account at the beginning of the product cycle and throughout development, and expedites the shipping of multiple language editions.