Simplifying Traditional and Simplified Chinese Conversion with OpenCC for Go

Simplifying Traditional and Simplified Chinese Conversion with OpenCC for Go

The ability to convert between Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters is essential in today’s globalized world. Whether it’s for translation, content localization, or data analysis, a reliable and efficient conversion tool is crucial. In this article, we will explore OpenCC for Go, a powerful tool that simplifies the process of converting between Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters. From its installation and usage to benchmark performance, we will dive deep into the features and functionality of OpenCC, providing valuable insights for both technical experts and business stakeholders.

Overview of OpenCC for Go

OpenCC for Go is a pure Go implementation of OpenCC, a project developed by BYVoid for converting between Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters. What sets OpenCC for Go apart is its avoidance of C library dependency and its use of Go Embed feature, which allows for easy deployment by embedding dictionaries into the binary itself.

Installation and Usage

To start using OpenCC for Go, simply run the following command:

sh
go get github.com/longbridgeapp/opencc

Once installed, you can use OpenCC for Go in your Go code as shown in the following example:

“`go
package main

import (
“fmt”
“log”

"github.com/longbridgeapp/opencc"

)

func main() {
s2t, err := opencc.New(“s2t”)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}

in := `自然语言处理是人工智能领域中的一个重要方向。`
out, err := s2t.Convert(in)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Printf("%s\n%s\n", in, out)
//自然语言处理是人工智能领域中的一个重要方向。
//自然語言處理是人工智能領域中的一個重要方向。

}
“`

Predefined Configuration Files

OpenCC for Go comes with a set of predefined configuration files that define different conversion modes. These include:

• s2t.json: Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese
• t2s.json: Traditional Chinese to Simplified Chinese
• s2tw.json: Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese (Taiwan Standard)
• tw2s.json: Traditional Chinese (Taiwan Standard) to Simplified Chinese
• s2hk.json: Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong variant)
• hk2s.json: Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong variant) to Simplified Chinese
• s2twp.json: Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese (Taiwan Standard) with Taiwanese idiom
• tw2sp.json: Traditional Chinese (Taiwan Standard) to Simplified Chinese with Mainland Chinese idiom
• t2tw.json: Traditional Chinese (OpenCC Standard) to Taiwan Standard
• hk2t.json: Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong variant) to Traditional Chinese
• t2hk.json: Traditional Chinese (OpenCC Standard) to Hong Kong variant
• t2jp.json: Traditional Chinese Characters (Kyūjitai) to New Japanese Kanji (Shinjitai)
• jp2t.json: New Japanese Kanji (Shinjitai) to Traditional Chinese Characters (Kyūjitai)
• tw2t.json: Traditional Chinese (Taiwan standard) to Traditional Chinese
• s2hk-finance.json: Special configuration file for Hong Kong market financial data

Development Guides

For developers interested in contributing or further enhancing OpenCC for Go, the repository provides detailed development guides. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with these guides before getting started. Notably, the repository contains a dictionary folder that should not be modified, as it synchronizes with the official OpenCC dictionaries. Additionally, there is an addition-dictionary folder where fixes and updates specific to this project are stored.

To update the dictionaries from the official OpenCC repository, you can use the following command:

bash
$ make update:data

Benchmarks

To evaluate the performance of OpenCC for Go, several benchmarks were conducted. The results are as follows:

Short text (100 chars)

| Mode | Number of Chars | Duration / op |
| ———— | ————— | ————- |
| s2t | 100 | 0.04 ms |
| t2s | 100 | 0.04 ms |
| s2hk-finance | 100 | 0.07 ms |
| s2tw | 100 | 0.063 ms |

Long Text (14K)

Using a 14K text, the benchmark performance of OpenCC for Go was tested:

| Mode | Number of Chars | Duration / op |
| ———— | ————— | ————- |
| s2t | 14K | 2.5 ms |
| t2s | 14K | 2.8 ms |
| s2hk-finance | 14K | 5 ms |
| s2tw | 14K | 3.8 ms |

License

OpenCC for Go is licensed under the Apache License, ensuring its open-source availability and flexibility.

In conclusion, OpenCC for Go provides a reliable and efficient solution for converting between Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters. Its use of Go Embed feature and avoidance of C library dependency make it a convenient and easy-to-use tool for developers. With its comprehensive benchmark performance and predefined configuration files, OpenCC for Go is a powerful asset for anyone involved in content localization, translation, or data analysis. Whether you are a technical expert or a business stakeholder, OpenCC for Go is an essential tool to simplify Traditional and Simplified Chinese conversion.

Do you have any experience using OpenCC for Go? Share your thoughts and insights in the comments below!