Computer programming Quote by Ben Horowitz
““Thinking back to old-time computer programming in the days before programming languages supported internationalization, we used to have to “internationalize” our code. We called this internationalization process “I18N” for short (localization was L10N), which meant I followed by eighteen letters followed by N.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things, 2014
Early programmers manually adapted code for global use, coining “I18N”.
In simple terms: Manual code adaptation pre‑languages.
Key Takeaway
Plan for localization early.
Themes
software development
internationalization
history
Mood
pragmatic
historical
Type
technical
strategic
When to use this quote
- legacy systems
- software localization
- multilingual UI design
Key Concepts
coding practices
globalization
language support
Questions to Reflect On
- What challenges arise when retrofitting old code?
- How does I18N affect user experience?
A Different Perspective
Modern frameworks reduce need for manual I18N.
