[Web-SIG] PEP 444 (aka Web3)

[Guido van Rossum]

On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 2:35 AM,  <chris.dent at gmail.com> wrote:
> If the goal here is to write a spec, then I would prefer that spec
> say what must be done and what must not be done, not what may be
> done, could be done or is suggested as perhaps a best practice.
> Those sorts of things belong in communication that is out of band of
> the spec.

Actually, many specs (esp. Internet RFCs and language specs, the ones
I am most familiar with besides PEPs) carefully define and use verbs
of different strength, typically must, should, may, should not, must
not. This is needed since almost all specs give the implementers of
the spec some leeway in how to conform to the spec (otherwise it
wouldn't be a spec but a program :-). Doubly so when there are two
sides to a protocol (e.g. client/server, consumer/producer).

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)