RE: Timing limitations when programming MIDI with Javascript

I don't have a preference about the "shorthand" issue (I'm not even sure
what that issue is) but your comments about not wanting to depend on "a
specific version of the MIDI specification" is a little concerning to me,
since the MIDI protocol has been "version 1.0" for almost 30 years now...
 
There have always been some undefined (reserved) messages in the MIDI
protocol, and over the years MMA has defined more of those, but the message
types and syntax are essentially unchanged, and should remain so forever.
 
That said, if there is a specific question at the foundation of this
discussion, such as "are MIDI messages always going to be either two or
three bytes long", then I would welcome the opportunity to have the MMA
Technical Standard Board provide you a response...
 
Tom White
MIDI Mfrs Assoc



Just a quick thought here... I have only had a quick look at the Web MIDI
API specification, and I must admit I'm no MIDI expert (which is why I
haven't provided any feedback so far). However, I think that one of the neat
things about the spec, as it is today, is that it does not seem to limit
itself to a specific version of the MIDI specification (somewhere around [1]
?).

I think that we should be very careful if we want to provide shorthand
methods for constructing/parsing messages, since that would make the Web
MIDI API dependent upon another specification (right?), and probably even a
specific version of another specification.



Indeed, and this is an important design point because that allows for
authors to make libraries that depend on certain versions of the MIDI
Specification, while the Web MIDI API remains independent of such
restrictions.