Re: [whatwg/url] Provide a succinct grammar for valid URL strings (#479)

> There is of course the section on URL Writing which does look like a grammar in prose style.
> 
> To be clear, what I tried to do, and what I suspect people in this thread (and alike) are after _is not_ to give a grammar for valid URL strings (like in the URL writing section)

I think in fact that there who’ve been involved with discussion of this who have actually been hoping a formal grammar for valid URL strings — in some kind of familiar formalism rather than in the prose style the spec uses. (And to be clear, I’m not personally one of the people who wants that — but from following past discussions around this, I can say I’m certain that’s what at least some people have been asking for.)

> but to give one that describes the language of URLs that is implicitly defined by the parser algorithm

I know that’s what some people want but I think as pointed out in https://github.com/whatwg/url/issues/479#issuecomment-708482325 (and #24 and other places) there are some serious challenges in attempting to write such a grammar.

And what I think has also been pointed out in #24 and elsewhere, for anybody who wants that, there’s nothing that prevents them from attempting to write up such a grammar themselves, based on the spec algorithms — but short of that happening, nobody else involved with the development of the spec is volunteering to try to write it up.

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