Over the past few years, I’ve participated in localizing quite a few diverse bits of software. This includes desktop applications, content management systems, websites, and even an SMS service.

While gaining that experience, I’ve noticed some patterns and practices that the developers often apply without realizing how harmful their use can be to the localization quality of the end product. In fact, I suspect that pretty often those practices are being thought of as helpful, and not harming… Until it’s a little too late: code has been written and tested, and rewriting it would cost lots of both time and money.