Composable i18n API in JSX/React: Insights from Quora at Unicode Conference 2020

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You're referring to a notable talk given by Quora engineers Behnam Esfahbod and Christopher Zeng at the 44th Internationalization & Unicode Conference (IUC 44) in October 2020. The talk was titled "Composable i18n API in JSX/React."

The core problem they aimed to address was that while React revolutionized component reusability, existing internationalization (i18n) frameworks for React often fell short in maintaining that reusability for textual content. This led to a common developer headache: either repeating translations or forcing oversimplified messages that couldn't handle the complexities of different languages and rich content.

Here are the key insights and takeaways from Quora's approach to a composable i18n API in JSX/React:

The Problem with Traditional i18n in Component-Based UI
Traditional i18n often treats translations as atomic strings or simple placeholders. When you have React components with nested structures or dynamic content, this approach breaks down:

Lack of Composition: If a parent component has a translated phrase like "Welcome, {username} to {productName}," and username or productName are themselves React components (e.g., clickable links, bolded text, or user avatars), traditional string interpolation makes this difficult or impossible to translate effectively. You'd often have to split the string, losing context for translators.

Developer Experience (DX) Issues:

Manual Splitting: Developers are forced to split messages into smaller, less natural chunks to accommodate component insertion. This can lead to unnatural phrasing in translations.

Context Loss: Translators lose the full sentence context, making accurate and natural translations harder.

New Syntax Learning: Many i18n libraries introduce their own templating syntax for placeholders, adding to the cognitive load for developers already working with JSX.

Static Analysis Challenges: Without a clear structure, it's hard for static analysis tools to identify all translatable strings and ensure consistency.

Rich Text Handling: Languages often require specific formatting (bolding, italics, links) within a translated string. Hardcoding this within the translation string can be inflexible or lead to XSS vulnerabilities.

Quora's Solution: Composable i18n API using JSX
Quora's approach aimed to solve these problems by integrating i18n directly into JSX, leveraging React's component model for translation composition.

Core Principles and Features:

JSX-Based Syntax for Messages:

Instead of t('hello_user', { name: <UserNameComponent /> }), they proposed a more native-looking JSX structure.

This means developers don't have to learn a new templating syntax for marking up translatable messages. They just write messages as they would any other JSX content.

Example (conceptual):

JavaScript

<Message id="welcome_message">
  Welcome, <UsernameLink user={currentUser} /> to our new <ProductName />!
</Message>
Here, UsernameLink and ProductName are React components, and the Message component's children define the translatable template.

Composition via React Components:

The key insight is that Message components can effectively "wrap" other React components or rich text elements. The i18n system then knows how to translate the surrounding text while preserving the components.

This allows for complex sentence structures where dynamic elements or rich formatting are seamlessly integrated and translated in context.

Translators are presented with the full message template, including placeholders for the components, ensuring better context.

Static Code Analyzer for Extraction:

A static analysis tool (e.g., part of their build process) is crucial. It scans the JSX code to identify all Message components and their translatable content.

This tool extracts these messages into translation files (e.g., JSON, YAML) that can then be sent to translators.

It also ensures that message IDs are consistent and that all necessary parameters are identified.

Runtime Libraries for Translation Delivery and Rendering:

On the client-side, a runtime library fetches the appropriate translations based on the user's selected language.

When the Message component renders, it looks up the translated string corresponding to its id.

The magic happens here: the runtime library needs to be smart enough to parse the translated string (which might include placeholders for components, e.g., "Welcome, {0} to our new {1}!") and re-inject the original React components (passed as children or props to the Message component) into their correct positions.

Handling Plurals, Genders, and Complexities:

The framework needs to support sophisticated i18n features like pluralization rules (e.g., "1 item", "2 items", "many items") which vary significantly by language.

Gender agreement, list formatting, and other locale-specific rules must also be handled. The composable API would integrate these rules within its JSX structure.

Benefits and Insights for React i18n in 2024
Quora's talk was influential and highlighted a forward-thinking approach. Many modern React i18n libraries (like react-i18next and formatjs/react-intl) have adopted similar composable patterns or offer ways to achieve them:

Improved Developer Experience (DX): Developers write more natural, readable code without resorting to complex string manipulation.

Enhanced Translator Experience: Translators get full context, leading to higher quality and more natural-sounding translations.

Better Maintainability: Changes to UI components don't necessarily break translations, as the i18n system understands the composition.

Reduced Errors: Static analysis helps catch missing translations or malformed messages at build time, reducing runtime bugs.

True Reusability: Message templates become reusable building blocks, just like other React components, supporting modular design.

Rich Content Support: Easily embed bolding, italics, links, and other interactive elements directly within translated strings.

The insights from Quora's 2020 talk emphasize that for large, complex, and highly interactive applications built with React, a simple key-value pair translation system is insufficient. A truly composable, JSX-native i18n API is essential for scalable, maintainable, and high-quality internationalization. This approach continues to be a cornerstone of best practices in modern React i18n development.

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