Revision 653057 of Localization

<h2><strong>Summary</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Localization</strong> (L10n) is the process of translating software user interfaces from one language to another and adapting it to suit a foreign culture.</p>
<p>As said above, localization is not only about translating the text of a user interface. It also involves changes to unit of measure, date and currency format, text direction and anything else that differs from one culture to another.</p>
<h2>In depth</h2>
<p>Depending on the media, l10n may include the following practices, apart from translation:</p>
<ul>
 <li>Text direction (e.g., arab script is written from right to left)</li>
 <li>Change in words' capitalization (e.g., in Italian it's bad form to use a capital after a colon)</li>
 <li>Changes in units of measure (e.g. in the US distance can me measured in miles, in Europe it's more usual to use Kilometers)</li>
 <li>Adaptation of idioms (e.g., in certain languages "It's raining cats and dogs" doesn't have any meaning, and would actually cause confusion)</li>
 <li>Use of different registers (e.g. in Japanese you don't use the same lexicon when adressing a friend as when adressing your boss)</li>
 <li>Use of different decimal separators in numbers (e.g., in English you would write 10.56, in Italian 10,56)</li>
</ul>
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