RE: Specification philosophies from Jim Whitehead on 2004-12-02 (w3c-dist-auth@w3.org from October to December 2004)

From: Jim Whitehead <ejw@cs.ucsc.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 08:41:53 -0800
To: "'WebDAV \(WebDAV WG\)'" <w3c-dist-auth@w3.org>
Message-Id: <200412021642.iB2Gg0fB001329@cats-mx4.ucsc.edu>

Seems to me the crux of the matter is your model of the reader of
specifications. If your reader is very technically adept, detail-oriented,
and a careful reader, then you'll want minimal repetition. If your reader is
less technically skilled, and is more prone to deep reading of only portions
of a specification, then repetition is good. Yaron was of the opinion that
many implementers only ever read the examples (and he was never prone to
hyperbole :-).

- Jim

Received on Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:43:13 UTC