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# Why localization matters and how to do it the easy (and right) way 

Ditch brittle localization files that block your CI/CD pipeline. Transition to a cloud-based, file-less workflow to completely decouple translation management from core feature development.

- **Speakers:** Mike Giannakopoulos
- **Event:** WeAreDevelopers LIVE
- **Published:** December 4, 2020
- **Duration:** 24:53
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/94-why-localization-matters-and-how-to-do-it-the-easy-and-right-way

## Summary

As global reliance on digital services expands, effectively prioritizing application localization is crucial for capturing active users in saturated and emerging markets alike. Developers traditionally face tedious and frustrating internationalization workflows—manually wrapping code, managing brittle file systems across microservices, dealing with branch merge conflicts, and waiting for slow quality assurance cycles where translated text (such as European languages running 30–40% longer than English) inevitably breaks UI layouts.

To eliminate these bottlenecks, transitioning from a file-heavy architecture to a cloud-based, "file-less" workflow is a massive operational upgrade. Solutions like Transifex Native use specific language SDKs and a Content Delivery Service (CDS) to decouple development from translation management. Developers simply wrap strings in a universal syntax and push them to the cloud, allowing localization teams to translate and update app text in parallel without developer intervention or blocking the CI/CD pipeline.

Adopting a universal translation syntax provides deep interoperability, meaning iOS, Android, and web applications can share a single translation source seamlessly. By leveraging over-the-air translation updates and machine translation scaffolding, software teams can eliminate deployment friction and empower developers to focus entirely on core feature iteration rather than managing localization files.

**Keywords:** software localization strategies, code internationalization workflows, cloud-based translation management, managing localization files, continuous localization deployment, translation management systems, over-the-air translation updates, universal translation syntax, cross-platform app localization, ci/cd for translations, localization ui quality assurance, microservices i18n patterns, localization content delivery service, react translation sdk, django application localization

## Chapters

1. **Business value and global market data for localization** (00:00) — Market data emphasizes the competitive advantage of translating content for regional application adoption.
1. **Capturing momentum with internationalization in growing markets** (02:48) — Rapid shifts in digital consumption highlight the need to quickly reach non-English speakers.
1. **Traditional four-step process for application localization** (06:09) — Standard internationalization requires tedious code wrapping, testing, and deployment to handle translated files.
1. **Common bottlenecks and file management issues in localization** (11:06) — Managing multiple localization files creates workflow delays and version control conflicts during parallel development.
1. **Cloud-based localization management with Transifex Native** (14:11) — A suite of SDKs replaces static files with a content delivery service for simpler maintenance.
1. **Parallel workflows for developers and translation teams** (17:29) — Decoupling code deployments from string translations allows engineering and localization units to operate independently.
1. **Universal syntax and interoperability features in Transifex Native** (20:08) — A common syntax permits sharing translated content across web and mobile platforms automatically.
1. **Supported frameworks and development roadmap for Transifex Native** (23:19) — Current framework support covers Python and JavaScript with upcoming SDKs for mobile platforms.

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