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For starters, it's easier to update those files. Developers update the .pot file (main translation file) and the translator opens his/her xx_XX.po file and loads the .pot file and the new entries show up immediately. The way we use, the updates would be WAY harder.
Plus, there are software like poEdit which can edit translation files so easily that we don't even need to use a mouse
. It may seem unimportant but with my experience I can say that I can translate a .po file twice as fast as the .php file we work with currently.
And another thing, we can use functions in the core files. For example, if tr_TR.php does not have the line where $i18n['TOTAL_FILES'], there would be nothing in the place that phrase is used (upload.php). With po/mo stuff, you just write the function <?php __('total files'); ?> and if tr_TR.po does not have a "total files" entry, it shows "total files" so there's at least the English description in upload.php.
It's a little bit hard for me to explain it in English. The page below is a nice & small article about the advantages of this system:
http://www.gnu.org/software/trans-coord/...tages.html
And other articles:
http://www.google.com.tr/search?q=GNU+gettext
Plus, there are software like poEdit which can edit translation files so easily that we don't even need to use a mouse
. It may seem unimportant but with my experience I can say that I can translate a .po file twice as fast as the .php file we work with currently.And another thing, we can use functions in the core files. For example, if tr_TR.php does not have the line where $i18n['TOTAL_FILES'], there would be nothing in the place that phrase is used (upload.php). With po/mo stuff, you just write the function <?php __('total files'); ?> and if tr_TR.po does not have a "total files" entry, it shows "total files" so there's at least the English description in upload.php.
It's a little bit hard for me to explain it in English. The page below is a nice & small article about the advantages of this system:
http://www.gnu.org/software/trans-coord/...tages.html
And other articles:
http://www.google.com.tr/search?q=GNU+gettext
