Thanks for the write-up. A very interesting read. It's an area that is ripe for innovation, and a massively growing industry.
The XLIFF and TMX formats also offer flexibility in the handling of translated data, as with .po files, but there are many problems still to be solved, as contingencies mentions.
As you mention "Real people are still required to do the translations and verify them" and the army of professional translators and agencies in the market is on hand to do that, but developers often work in formats they are unfamiliar with.
The bulk of a freelancer's work is in MS Office files, run through a CAT (computer assisted translation) tool, and the resulting file (and translation memory, TM) is delivered. When a developer needs a bunch of strings translated they stray into unfamiliar territory for the average freelancer.
Specialists are out there, but a common format approach would help here. Most professional CAT tools (costing from 200-1000+ of your local currency units) can process .po files, which is a bonus, but doesn't solve many of the remaining problems out there.
A multi-language translation memory (i.e. several source/target combinations) would be useful in many cases, as would a simple 'export translatables' button in the admin dashboards of apps.
I hope more HN readers dig in to the problems mentioned here, as technical solutions could have a big influence on the future of globalisation(-ization!).
The XLIFF and TMX formats also offer flexibility in the handling of translated data, as with .po files, but there are many problems still to be solved, as contingencies mentions.
As you mention "Real people are still required to do the translations and verify them" and the army of professional translators and agencies in the market is on hand to do that, but developers often work in formats they are unfamiliar with.
The bulk of a freelancer's work is in MS Office files, run through a CAT (computer assisted translation) tool, and the resulting file (and translation memory, TM) is delivered. When a developer needs a bunch of strings translated they stray into unfamiliar territory for the average freelancer.
Specialists are out there, but a common format approach would help here. Most professional CAT tools (costing from 200-1000+ of your local currency units) can process .po files, which is a bonus, but doesn't solve many of the remaining problems out there.
A multi-language translation memory (i.e. several source/target combinations) would be useful in many cases, as would a simple 'export translatables' button in the admin dashboards of apps.
I hope more HN readers dig in to the problems mentioned here, as technical solutions could have a big influence on the future of globalisation(-ization!).