Re: Problem statement

On 8/3/16 2:30 AM, David Chadwick wrote:
>> There is currently no application-independent standard for expressing
>> and transacting self-sovereign and privacy-enhancing verifiable claims
>> (aka: credentials, attestations) via the Web.
>
> I like this formulation, but there is no need to put a hyphen between
> application and independent

Perhaps I misunderstand what meaning you're attempting to convey, but 
from what I take from the statement, the following rule about adding a 
hyphen in compound adjectives would apply:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_modifier

As they make clear, the purpose is to avoid misconstruing the meaning. 
What you're suggesting, without the hyphen is:

  There is currently no application independent standard for 
expressing and transacting self-sovereign and privacy-enhancing 
verifiable claims (aka: credentials, attestations) via the Web.

IMO, this is difficult to read because the word 'application' is read 
as a noun, and 'independent standard' is then read as a noun phrase 
that must be related to it somehow, by inserting unstated connections, 
of which several are possible. Is it "independent standard for 
applications"? Is that for one application? For several? For all? Or 
is it a "standard independent from applications"? Are those two 
meanings the same? --Not necessarily. It gets boggy.

So, to me 'application-independent standard' is more precise -- in the 
same way that 'self-sovereign and 'privacy-enhancing' are unambiguous 
because of their hyphen.


Steven

Received on Wednesday, 3 August 2016 17:32:21 UTC