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JavaScript Globalization Overview

Overview page that shows what solutions exist for JavaScript globalization (internationalization and localization). What is missing. What overlaps. Why was each library created. What are their goals, strengths and weaknesses.

• Summary
  • ECMA-402
  • Cldrpluralruleparser
  • FormatJS
  • Globalize
  • Google Closure i18n
  • ibm-js/ecma402
  • iLib
  • jquery.i18n
  • Messageformat.js
• Grid

Summary

ECMA-402

The standard native implementation. It provides collation (string comparison), number formatting, and date and time formatting. The API was developed by a working group with members from Google, Microsoft, Mozilla (Norbert Lindenberg), Amazon, and IBM.

Strengths

• Best performant on both speed and size. Speed, because it's native compiled code, which runs faster than interpreted JavaScript code from libraries. Size, because again it's native compiled code, which requires no extra JavaScript or resource loading (it relies on compiled i18n data) to be executed.

Weaknesses

• Limited browser support (it may NOT be supported by your target client).
• Lack of a resource loading mechanism (certain locale may NOT be available on your target client).
• Inconsistency. Different browsers may give different results.

Links

• http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-402/1.0/
• http://norbertlindenberg.com/2012/12/ecmascript-internationalization-api/index.html
• http://generatedcontent.org/post/59403168016/esintlapi (locale support)

Cldrpluralruleparser

Standalone library created by Santhosh Thottingal that provides CLDR plural rule parsing. Used by Wikimedia Foundation.

Strengths

• Based on CLDR data (largest and most extensive i18n repository).
• No bugs due to outdated i18n content (it has no hard coded i18n data).
• Consistency. Same results are obtained across browsers.

Links:

• https://github.com/santhoshtr/CLDRPluralRuleParser/

FormatJS

FormatJS is a modular collection of JavaScript libraries for internationalization that are focused on formatting numbers, dates, and strings for displaying to people. It includes a set of core libraries that build on the JavaScript Intl built-ins and industry-wide i18n standards, plus a set of integrations for common template and component libraries.

Strengths:

• Integrates with template/component libraries: Handlebars, React, and Dust.
• Modular, integration libs (above) are built on core libraries: intl-mesageformat, intl-relativetime.
• IE6+ support, automated testing in IE7+.
• Built on standards: ECMA-402, CLDR, and ICU Message syntax.

Weaknesses:

• No parsing beyond what the Date and Number built-ins provide.

Links:

• http://formatjs.io/
• http://formatjs.io/github/ (packages)

Globalize

A jQuery project, initially created to fulfill jQuery UI (datepicker and spinner widgets). It provides number formatting and parsing, date and time formatting and parsing, message formatting, and plural support.

The design goals are (a) to leverage the official CLDR JSON data, (b) allow users to load as much or as little data as they need, (c) avoid duplicating data if using multiple i18n libraries that leverage CLDR, and (d) run in browsers or node.js.

Strengths

• Based on CLDR data (the most extensive i18n repository).
• No bugs due to outdated i18n content (it has no hard coded i18n data).
• Consistency. Same results are obtained across browsers.
• Allow different locale instances running simultaneously.

Links:

• https://github.com/jquery/globalize/

Google Closure i18n

Part of the larger Closure library, based on CLDR data. Provides number formatting and parsing, date and time formatting and parsing, message formatting (including plural and gender support), access to some of the CLDR data (like currency symbols).

Strengths

• Based on CLDR data (the most extensive i18n repository).
• Consistency. Same results are obtained across browsers.

Weaknesses

• Supports only one locale at the time (default model, can be bypassed).

Links

• https://developers.google.com/closure/
• http://docs.closure-library.googlecode.com/git/namespace_goog_i18n.html

ibm-js/ecma402

JavaScript implementation of some of the ECMA-402 APIs as developed by IBM. It provides number formatting and date and time formatting, but not collation. The package was primarily developed by John Emmons (IBM), who is the chairman of the Unicode CLDR Technical Committee. Members of IBM's Dojo development team assisted with many of the resource loading issues.

Strengths

• Based on CLDR data (the most extensive i18n repository).
• Consistency. Same results are obtained across browsers.
• Provides a "shim" feature, which allows the native ECMA-402 implementation to be used when available.
• Allows multiple locales to be available to the application.

Weaknesses

• Official version not yet released - still under development.

Links

• http://github.com/ibm-js/ecma402
• http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-402/1.0/

iLib

iLib is a library of JavaScript internationalization routines implemented in pure Javascript without many dependendencies on other libraries. It is the i18n library used in webOS, which is currently shipping on millions of LG SmartTVs.

Strengths:

• Completeness. Goal is to be the "ICU" of Javascript!
• Runs in rhino, nodejs, various browsers and webOS
• Based on CLDR
• Over 15,000 unit tests

Weaknesses:

• Code is large. Needs to be modularized and to support more of a jquery-style plugins.
• Needs some performance enhancements

Links:

• http://sourceforge.net/projects/i18nlib/
• http://demo.jedlsoft.com/
• http://docs.jedlsoft.com/ilib/jsdoc/

jquery.i18n

jQuery based library port of MediaWiki's client side localization framework. Used by Wikimedia Foundation. Uses JSON based message file format (aka. "banana format"). Messages are in MediaWiki's own syntax. Supports Plural, Gender, Grammar, Number formatting. Also supports recursive nesting of plural, gender, grammar, etc.

Strenghts

• Based on CLDR data (the most extensive i18n repository).
• Consistency. Same results are obtained across browsers.
• Message validators (https://www.npmjs.org/package/grunt-banana-checker)

Weaknesses

• jQuery based library.

Links:

• https://github.com/wikimedia/jquery.i18n

Messageformat.js

Standalone library created by Alex Sexton that provides ICU MessageFormat support, with built-in SelectFormat and pluggable PluralFormat.

Strengths

• Precompile formatter for faster/smaller runtime.

Links:

• https://github.com/SlexAxton/messageformat.js/

Grid