haphpiness

intl MessageFormatter — ICU-Backed Proper i18n

PHP bundles the ICU library via the intl extension. That means real internationalisation: pluralization rules for all languages, gender agreements, locale-aware number and date formatting — the things every web app needs and usually gets wrong.

use MessageFormatter;

// Pluralization that actually works for every language
$fmt = new MessageFormatter('en_US',
    '{count, plural, one{# item} other{# items}}'
);

echo $fmt->format(['count' => 1]);   // "1 item"
echo $fmt->format(['count' => 5]);   // "5 items"
echo $fmt->format(['count' => 0]);   // "0 items"

// Russian has four plural forms — ICU handles them automatically
$fmt_ru = new MessageFormatter('ru_RU',
    '{count, plural, one{# товар} few{# товара} many{# товаров} other{# товара}}'
);
echo $fmt_ru->format(['count' => 1]);   // "1 товар"
echo $fmt_ru->format(['count' => 3]);   // "3 товара"
echo $fmt_ru->format(['count' => 11]);  // "11 товаров"

The same extension provides locale-aware number, currency, and date formatting through NumberFormatter and IntlDateFormatter:

// Format numbers correctly for the locale
$nf = new NumberFormatter('de_DE', NumberFormatter::DECIMAL);
echo $nf->format(1234567.89);  // "1.234.567,89" — German conventions

$cf = new NumberFormatter('en_US', NumberFormatter::CURRENCY);
echo $cf->formatCurrency(9.99, 'USD');  // "$9.99"
echo $cf->formatCurrency(9.99, 'EUR');  // "€9.99"

// Collation — sort strings correctly for the locale
$coll = new Collator('fr_FR');
$words = ['éclair', 'apple', 'été', 'banane'];
$coll->sort($words);
// Sorted according to French alphabetical rules, not ASCII byte order