How do Magento2 translations work?

Question

There are plain strings i.e. in view/adminhtml/ui_component/product_listing.xml and I am wondering how they get translated into other languages.
Also what is the correct way of using translations in PHP code (Blocks, Models etc.) or template files? In Magento 1 it was like $this->__('asd');.

Answer 1

The correct way to use the translation is __('text here'). Simple as that. no $this or any other object. Just __ function.
the fact that you see plain texts in xml files should not be a problem.
the xml files are used by at least one php script. And the php script knows the structure of the xml files including what needs to be translated or not.