How to create and maintain a multi-language project?

Question

I am planning to make a multi-language application in C# and was wondering what is the best way to handle the follow:

• The container for the languages;
• Best approaches to read/change once initiated/requested;
• As the program grows so does the the text for each language what do you usually do and recommend as best practice;
• What sort of problems have you encountered while doing such type of applications;

Thanks for any advice, replies, etc.

I would really appreciate links and sample code if it's not too much trouble (not required, only if you have the time and can).

Answer 1

I'd say that the standard way to localize a C# app is using resources and satellite assemblies. Here are some articles about this:

Creating and Implementing Satellite Assemblies
Localization Like the Pros
MSDN: Localizing Applications

Answer 2

To handle languages the best way is to store strings in a resource file. You can release additional languages with satellite assemblies. You will find a lot of information about globalization and localization with C#: for example in MSDN

If you are planning to store much data, i would suggest SQL Compact + NHibernate. XML is very slow especially with C#.