A Question of Code

Internationalisation is often cited as one of the really hard programming tasks. What does it involve? And is it really hard?

Show Notes

This week we're joined by internationalisation (i18n) expert Eli Schutze. Originally from Nicaragua, Eli is a London-based web engineer and speaker currently making money work for everyone at Monzo Bank. In this episode she clears up some common misconceptions around the issue of translating apps and websites. It turns out that doing i18n properly often runs counter to a lot of the principles developers are taught when they learn programming.

Why do we call it "i18n"? (Spoiler: because it's hard to say!) And why do developers need to do the hard work of i18n themselves? Why not just use automated tools? How does i18n work on a technical level, and what is likely to go horribly wrong when developers try to be too "smart"? Find out all this and more in this week's international instalment of A Question of Code.

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What is A Question of Code?

A newbie coder and a seasoned veteran discuss the questions that always come up when someone begins learning to code.

Ed is looking at getting a career in programming and has been learning to code for just over a year. During this time he’s been building up a stack of questions that keep coming up from other newbie coders. Luckily, he’s got someone he can ask for help: Tom. Tom’s a seasoned coder, having worked in the industry for a few years now and has all the answers Ed needs, or does he?