The T() wrapper constraint was the interesting part.
Start by clarifying requirements and scale, then propose a client-side translation service with a simple T() API that fetches translations asynchronously and caches them. Discuss trade-offs between build-time and runtime translation loading, and how to handle dynamic content and pluralization. Finally, outline the rollout strategy and monitoring.
Pro tip: Emphasize that the biggest challenge is not the API but the translation management pipeline and ensuring engineers don't need to think about i18n. Propose a solution where translations are automatically extracted from code and synced with a TMS, and the T() function is a thin wrapper that handles caching and fallbacks.
Ask about supported languages, latency targets, and whether translations can be loaded asynchronously. Confirm that the T() API should be synchronous and simple for engineers.
Propose serving translations as JSON bundles from a CDN, with a client-side library that loads the appropriate locale bundle and caches it. Consider lazy-loading per route or component to minimize initial payload.
Design T(key, params) to look up translations from an in-memory store, with fallback to the key or default language. Handle interpolation and pluralization via ICU message format or similar.
Describe how strings are extracted (e.g., via Babel plugin), uploaded to a TMS, translated, and then published back as JSON bundles. Ensure engineers only write T() and the pipeline handles the rest.
Outline a phased rollout (e.g., one language at a time), monitoring for missing translations and latency, and trade-offs between build-time vs runtime, and client vs server rendering.
AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.