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Hi everyone, thanks for coming. My name is David, or more commonly known on the internet as Dabit. You can find me on Twitter, GitHub, Instagram, and everywhere else as Dabit. I work for a company named Michelada, like the drink you probably had one of.
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We are a Rails team that you can hire from Mexico, more specifically from a small town on the west coast that you probably have never heard of called Calima. Despite being headquartered in Mexico, most of our clients are in the US. As a result, we’ve been asked to work with multilingual apps several times in the past.
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Even if we built an app for a company in Mexico, we probably would use Spanish for the actual code. We opt for using the internationalization (i18n) engine in Rails to keep the code clean. If you mix English and Spanish or other languages, for example, if we're building a hotel reservation system, it could lead to a confusing situation with filenames like 'bed_siones_controller' or 'tree_service_ronas_controller.' As such, even if the app is in Spanish, we still tend to stick with English naming conventions in the code.
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We have done a fair share of internationalization, which, I must admit, is a pretty weird word to pronounce. It’s often abbreviated as i18n. The reason it’s called that is because someone found it difficult to pronounce, so they coined the term i18n, which stands for 'I' plus 18 characters followed by 'n.' Believe it or not, that's where the term comes from.
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Now, let’s talk a little bit about the basics of internationalization. You’ve probably heard of the core elements regarding internationalization in your Rails applications. It goes like this: there’s a 'T' function that is used as the core of translating Rails applications.
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To use the 'T' function, you pass a key and, optionally, you can also pass a scope, which can be either a parameter or just prepended to the actual key, separated by dots. You keep YAML files with the same structure in different languages, where you store the text that you want to be translated. Whenever you call the 'T' function with the provided key and the current locale, it returns the corresponding text.
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It does not matter if the scope is an attribute or just prepended as part of the key; it works the same way. Depending on your specific use case, you might need to pass the scope as an attribute or just like that. In an actual application, you might have a page that contains text you want to localize into different languages. So instead of using hard-coded text in the view, you replace that with calls to the 'T' function and pass the key for the desired text.
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You then define your YAML files with the different translations, whether it is English, Spanish, Japanese, or any other language you require. At some point in the code, you set the locale, which may come from the database, or perhaps from a query parameter as I’m doing right here. That’s all you need to set up, and your application will work automatically.
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That’s the basic functionality of internationalization. Now I'm going to dive into some common practices I've encountered when joining existing teams. Sometimes, there are things being done that could be improved.
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Let's start with the first tip, which is to split your YAML files. By default, Rails only reads the locale files from the config/locales folder. You might assume you need to shove everything in there, separated by locale names. However, as development continues, this approach leads to enormous YAML files filled with thousands of lines, which nobody can read or maintain.
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It's better to organize your translations by separating them into folders — maybe a folder for ActiveRecord translations and another one for admin translations. You can even go further and separate by language. Each model can have its own file, making it easier to find the translation for a specific model when working on the application. If I want to change something for the 'address' model, I will know that 'address.es.yaml' is the relevant file.
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Be organized about your YAML files. However, as mentioned, this is not the default behavior in Rails. You need to add a line in the application.rb or an initializer to make Rails recursively read those files in the locales folder.
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To be honest, I don’t know why this behavior hasn’t changed yet. I’ve seen discussions around it, but as DHH mentioned, it's a very small minority of apps that require localization, and in that context, it doesn't matter much.
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The second best practice to keep in mind when translating or using a Rails app with multiple languages is to utilize the i18n-debug gem. This gem can be added to your Gemfile. When added, it enables you to see a trace of how your site is querying the backend for translations. This way, when you load a page, you will see a blue screen detailing what translations are being performed.
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Some helpers in Rails will automatically attempt to translate labels and text, even if you don’t explicitly call translations. By using this gem, you can understand the translation order and the default lookup tree that Rails employs.
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For example, if you have a standard form with labels and some fields, and you focus on the label for the author name, you’ll see Rails querying the translation for 'helpers.label.author_name.' If it can't find that key, it will look up 'active_record.attributes.author_name,' and if that fails too, it will try 'attributes.name.' This method allows for a more structured and comprehensive approach to translations.
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Thus, you can set global translations for attributes that are regularly used across your application. If you require something more specific for a particular model or form, defining labels directly in your translation files will ensure those specific details are used.
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Another useful practice is to utilize lazy lookup. For example, when you have flash messages that inform the user that something was created or updated, instead of using a hard-coded message, you can create a translation that shows different messages based on the context.
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By prefixing the translation key with a period, Rails will automatically calculate the scope based on the controller and action context. This enhances your flexibility and ensures that related translations are grouped automatically.
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Lazy lookup can also be applied to views and partials. You can easily prepend a period to utilize the context of partials in different views, ensuring that your keys match the translations needed for whichever controller or view they are in.
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You can also localize entire views by appending a locale to the extension file. This means you could have a Japanese view for your terms and conditions page instead of maintaining different YAML files for translations of lengthy text.
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This approach is useful because as languages vary, so too might the required layout. For instance, a Japanese version of a page may need to be formatted as a table, while Arabic languages necessitate right-to-left text.
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You can use this optimization with partials, allowing small pieces of localized text to be reused across different views, especially in mailers that require translation.
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There will be instances where certain languages share common words or phrases, but there are variations depending on the region. For instance, there's a distinct difference in vocabulary among Spanish spoken in Spain, Mexico, or Argentina.
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To manage this, configuration fallbacks in your application.rb file allow Rails to use one locale and then search for the next, if needed. This minimizes duplication of translations across multiple language files.
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For example, you could define preferred English terms and when the British English fails to find a match, it will revert to standardized English. This is equally applicable when fine-tuning language differences in Spanish.
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Now, let's discuss pluralization and best practices. It’s common to require different vernacular depending on whether the count is zero, one, or multiple. For example, in some user interfaces, you need phrases that reflect these count distinctions, like 'no items,' 'one item,' or 'multiple items.'
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A common mistake is to use if-else statements to determine the correct phrase to display based on the count. There’s a more effective way within i18n that allows you to define key conditions for specific counts by using pluralization keys.
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Through this method, you can keep your translations organized and your code cleaner. Instead of cluttering the code with conditional logic, you pass the count variable to the 'T' function, allowing Rails to intelligently display the relevant phrase.
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Next, while we’ve discussed using YAML files to store translations, it's not the sole method available. Various strategies exist for how you can store and retrieve translations depending on your application’s needs.
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For instance, you can opt for an ActiveRecord back end where you will store locale keys and translations in a database table. This approach could lead to increased database queries but provides flexibility when needing to change translations dynamically.
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Alternatively, you can add a gem to utilize Redis, MongoDB, or even roll your own solution to handle translation storage. However, make sure to select a backend that suits your application requirements.
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Also, keep in mind that you can define chain backends in Rails to utilize multiple translation backends concurrently. By prioritizing where Rails looks for translations, you can offer flexible fallback options.
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For example, if translations are not available in ActiveRecord, it may fallback to the default YAML or other defined backends, ensuring you have coverage across your application without duplicating data.
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Additionally, you can localize time, dates, and numbers effectively using the built-in Rails functions. For datetimes, you can pass configurations for formatting in your translation files, which helps control how they appear across different locales.
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Functions like 'time_ago_in_words' can also localize the time differences and generate appropriate strings dynamically based on the defined translations. It automatically handles the variations needed for different languages.
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Similarly, number formatting can be effectively managed to ensure it complies with different regional standards for decimal points and separators, so all of your data remains user-friendly.
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Keep in mind currency formatting, too! By utilizing the 'number_to_currency' function, you can dynamically modify how currency shows in your application, ensuring it aligns with locale preferences and formats.
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Lastly, the 'number_to_human' function helps render large numbers as human-readable text based on your locale, which adds to the usability of your application.
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As we recap, remember to split your YAML files, utilize the default lookup tree, and deploy debugging gems to improve your translation strategies. Always keep an eye on organization and don’t hesitate to roll your custom solutions to cater to unique requirements.
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Thank you for your time, and I hope you can take these insights into your own Rails applications!
