nuxt-i18n-micro

Nuxt I18n Micro

Nuxt I18n Micro is a fast, simple, and lightweight internationalization (i18n) module for Nuxt. Despite its compact size, it's designed with large projects in mind, offering significant performance improvements over traditional i18n solutions like nuxt-i18n. The module was built from the ground up to be highly efficient, focusing on minimizing build times, reducing server load, and shrinking bundle sizes.

Why Nuxt I18n Micro?

The Nuxt I18n Micro module was created to address critical performance issues found in the original nuxt-i18n module, particularly in high-traffic environments and projects with large translation files. Key issues with nuxt-i18n include:

• High Memory Consumption: Consumes significant memory during both build and runtime, leading to performance bottlenecks.
• Slow Performance: Especially with large translation files, it causes noticeable slowdowns in build times and server response.
• Large Bundle Size: Generates a large bundle, negatively impacting application performance.
• Memory Leaks and Bugs: Known for memory leaks and unpredictable behavior under heavy load.

Performance Comparison

To showcase the efficiency of Nuxt I18n Micro, we conducted tests under identical conditions. Both modules were tested with a 10MB translation file on the same hardware.

Build Time and Resource Consumption

Nuxt I18n:

• Total size: 54.7 MB (3.29 MB gzip)
• Max CPU Usage: 394.0%
• Max Memory Usage: 8746 MB
• Elapsed Time: 0h 1m 30s

Nuxt I18n Micro:

• Total size: 22.4 MB (2.9 MB gzip) — 59% smaller
• Max CPU Usage: 305.3% — 23% lower
• Max Memory Usage: 3247 MB — 63% less memory
• Elapsed Time: 0h 0m 17s — 81% faster

Server Performance (10k Requests)

Nuxt I18n:

• Requests per second: 49.05 [#/sec] (mean)
• Time per request: 611.599 ms (mean)
• Max Memory Usage: 703.73 MB

Nuxt I18n Micro:

• Requests per second: 61.18 [#/sec] (mean) — 25% more requests per second
• Time per request: 490.379 ms (mean) — 20% faster
• Max Memory Usage: 323.00 MB — 54% less memory usage

These results clearly demonstrate that Nuxt I18n Micro significantly outperforms the original module in every critical area.

Key Features

• 🌐 Compact Yet Powerful: Despite its small size, Nuxt I18n Micro is designed for large-scale projects, focusing on performance and efficiency.
• ⚡ Optimized Build and Runtime: Reduces build times, memory usage, and server load, making it ideal for high-traffic applications.
• 🛠 Minimalist Design: The module is structured around just 5 components (1 module and 4 plugins), making it easy to understand, extend, and maintain.
• 📏 Efficient Routing: Generates only 2 routes regardless of the number of locales, thanks to dynamic regex-based routing, unlike other i18n modules that generate separate routes for each locale.
• 🗂 Streamlined Translation Loading: Only JSON files are supported, with translations split between a global file for common texts (e.g., menus) and page-specific files, which are auto-generated in the dev mode if not present.

Quick Setup

Install the module in your Nuxt application with:

npm install nuxt-i18n-micro

Then, add it to your nuxt.config.ts:

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: [
    'nuxt-i18n-micro',
  ],
  i18n: {
    locales: [
      { code: 'en', iso: 'en-US', dir: 'ltr' },
      { code: 'fr', iso: 'fr-FR', dir: 'ltr' },
      { code: 'ar', iso: 'ar-SA', dir: 'rtl' },
    ],
    defaultLocale: 'en',
    translationDir: 'locales',
    meta: true,
  },
})

That's it! You're now ready to use Nuxt I18n Micro in your Nuxt app.

Folder Structure

Translations are organized into global and page-specific files:

/locales
  /pages
    /index
      en.json
      fr.json
      ar.json
    /about
      en.json
      fr.json
      ar.json
  en.json
  fr.json
  ar.json

• Global File: Located at locales/{locale}.json (e.g., locales/en.json). Used for common texts shared across multiple pages, such as menus.
• Page-Specific Files: Located at locales/pages/{routeName}/{locale}.json (e.g., locales/pages/index/en.json). These are used for translations specific to individual pages.

Plugin Methods

$getLocale()

Returns the current locale code.

const locale = $getLocale()

$getLocales()

Returns an array of all available locales configured in the module.

const locales = $getLocales()

$t(key: string, params?: Record<string, any>, defaultValue?: string)

Fetches a translation for the given key. Optionally interpolates parameters into the translation.

const welcomeMessage = $t('welcome', { username: 'Alice', unreadCount: 5 })

$tc(key: string, count: number, defaultValue?: string)

Fetches a pluralized translation for the given key based on the count.

const appleCountMessage = $tc('apples', 10)

$switchLocale(locale: string)

Switches to the given locale and redirects the user to the appropriate localized route.

$switchLocale('fr')

$localeRoute(to: RouteLocationRaw): RouteLocationRaw

Generates a localized route object based on the target route.

const localizedRoute = $localeRoute({ name: 'index' })

$mergeTranslations(newTranslations: Translations)

Merges new translations into the existing translation cache for the current route and locale.

$mergeTranslations({
  welcome: 'Bienvenue, {username}!'
})

Module Options

The module accepts the following options in the Nuxt configuration:

• locales: An array of locale objects. Each locale should have a code, and optionally, iso and dir (for RTL/LTR).
  • Example:

    locales: [
      { code: 'en', iso: 'en-US', dir: 'ltr' },
      { code: 'fr', iso: 'fr-FR', dir: 'ltr' },
      { code: 'ar', iso: 'ar-SA', dir: 'rtl' }
    ]
    

• meta: A boolean indicating whether to automatically generate SEO-related meta tags (like alternate links).
• defaultLocale: The default locale code (e.g., 'en').
• translationDir: The directory where translation files are stored (e.g., 'locales').
• autoDetectLanguage: If true, automatically detects the user's preferred language and redirects accordingly.
• plural: A custom function for handling pluralization.

Conclusion

Nuxt I18n Micro offers a highly efficient, minimalist approach to internationalization in Nuxt applications. By focusing on performance and simplicity, it provides a powerful alternative to heavier, more complex i18n solutions. Whether you're building a small website or a large-scale application, Nuxt I18n Micro helps you manage multilingual content with ease.

For more details and updates, visit the Nuxt I18n Micro GitHub repository.