[ prog / sol / mona ]

prog


Language Lawyering

4 2020-02-15 00:05

There was a time when I thought that reading software standard specification documents (e.g. RFC, IEEE, ISO, ect) should be the most effective way to learn about a particular class of software systems. Then I tried to read one. It turns out that some of them are nice. Some. Few. The rest (i.e. most, according to my sample) are as you (>>1) described: an amalgam of underspecified statements.

I think that they should, beyond merely agreeing on what the standard according to the convention is, make an effort to write up a few (as per various classes of individuals for whom it may be relevant) mutually consistent (according to the interpretations of the respective target audiences) ``introductions'' to it; this would aid adoption, this innovation. (Maybe we should write up a document consisting of an amalgam of underspecified statements, published as a proposal to amend the standards committees.)

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