About `gettext'
===============
The definition of the `gettext' interface comes from a Uniforum
proposal and it is followed by at least one major Unix vendor (Sun) in
its last developments. It is not specified in any official standard,
though.
The main points about this solution is that it does not follow the
method of normal file handling (open-use-close) and that it does not
burden the programmer so many task, especially the unique key handling.
Of course here is also a unique key needed, but this key is the message
itself (how long or short it is). See Note:Comparison for a more
detailed comparison of the two methods.
The following section contains a rather detailed description of the
interface. We make it that detailed because this is the interface we
chose for the GNU `gettext' Library. Programmers interested in using
this library will be interested in this description.