9. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to: receive a resource file for a released computer program that includes a first set of text strings in a base language that are used to display one or more text message on a graphical user interface during execution of the released computer program; receive processing instructions that define a process for transforming the first set of text strings of the resource file into a first runtime resource file for the released computer program; receive a second set of text strings in a target language, wherein the second set of text strings is platform-independent and comprises translations of the first set of text strings in the target language, wherein the second set of text strings corresponds to a valid International Organization for Standardization (ISO) language code and ISO country code that indicates the target language; determine changes made to at least one of the first set of text strings in the resource file after receiving the second set of text strings; translate the at least one text string into the target language; produce a second runtime resource file for the released computer program comprising the second set of text strings according to the received processing instructions that were used for transforming the first set of text strings of the resource file into the first runtime resource file for the released computer program; and execute the released computer program, wherein the instructions to execute the released computer program comprise instructions to load the first runtime resource file and the second runtime resource file, receive a language selection comprising a selection of either the base language or the target language, and display a text string from either the first set of text strings or the second set of text strings according to the received language selection.
9. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to: receive a resource file for a released computer program that includes a first set of text strings in a base language that are used to display one or more text message on a graphical user interface during execution of the released computer program; receive processing instructions that define a process for transforming the first set of text strings of the resource file into a first runtime resource file for the released computer program; receive a second set of text strings in a target language, wherein the second set of text strings is platform-independent and comprises translations of the first set of text strings in the target language, wherein the second set of text strings corresponds to a valid International Organization for Standardization (ISO) language code and ISO country code that indicates the target language; determine changes made to at least one of the first set of text strings in the resource file after receiving the second set of text strings; translate the at least one text string into the target language; produce a second runtime resource file for the released computer program comprising the second set of text strings according to the received processing instructions that were used for transforming the first set of text strings of the resource file into the first runtime resource file for the released computer program; and execute the released computer program, wherein the instructions to execute the released computer program comprise instructions to load the first runtime resource file and the second runtime resource file, receive a language selection comprising a selection of either the base language or the target language, and display a text string from either the first set of text strings or the second set of text strings according to the received language selection. 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions to copy the second runtime resource file to an installation directory of the released computer program.