In computing, internationalization is a means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market.


The term is frequently abbreviated to the numeronym i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the first i and last n in internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s).

This is a matter not only of changing the language which the software presents (e.g. in its user interface), but of changing the date format, the orientation of the text, the numeric format, and other aspects of its behavior to reflect the culture.

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