← Lessons

quiz vs the machine

Gold1400

System Design

Template Rendering And Localization

Turning data and a template into a localized message for each user and channel.

5 min read · core · beat Gold to climb

Templates separate form from data

A template holds the message structure with placeholders, and the service fills it with data at send time. This keeps copy editable without code changes and consistent across sends.

Per channel variants

The same notification needs different shapes per channel: a short push, a richer email, a plain SMS. Templates are usually keyed by notification type and channel.

Localization

  • Each template has variants per locale, chosen from the user language preference.
  • Pluralization and date and number formats follow locale rules.
  • A fallback locale covers missing translations.

Safety

Rendering must escape user supplied values to avoid injection in email html, and missing variables should fail loudly rather than ship a broken message.

Key idea

Templates merge data with per channel localized variants so each user gets a correctly formatted message in their language.

Check yourself

Answer to earn rating on the learn ladder.

1. Why key templates by type and channel?

2. What does a fallback locale provide?

3. Why escape user supplied values during rendering?