This page answers common questions about internationalization of the Java 2 platform, Standard Edition, version 1.3.1, and of Sun's Java 2 Runtime Environments, Standard Edition, version 1.3.1. For more information, see the Internationalization home page. Internationalization allows software to be adapted to any language and cultural convention. During the internationalization process, the programmer isolates the parts of a program that are dependent on language and culture. For example, the programmer will isolate error messages because they must be translated during localization.
Localization is the process of adapting a program for use in a specific locale.
A locale is a geographic or political region that shares the same language and customs. Localization includes the translation of text such as GUI labels, error messages, and online help. It also includes the culture-specific formatting of data items such as monetary values, times, dates, and numbers. See the steps outlined in the Checklist section of the The Java Tutorial . A locale is a geographic or political region that shares the same language and customs.