Standard
A standard is an essential part of the international computer
and communications field. There are standards for
nearly every aspect of computing and communication, and it doesn't
take much reflection to realize how essential these are to
the success of the WWW. It was the need to transfer documents across
different platforms that led to the development of SGML,
Standard Generalized Markup Language. Without standards and
established protocols, network communication could not exist on the scale
that it exists today.
URLs:
- Computer and
Communication Standards Documentation
- This site has links to standards organizations from all over the
world which pertain to computers and communications.
- IETF
(Internet Engineering Task Force)
- The site of the Internet Engineering Task Force explains the
difference between an Internet RFC and a standard, and the criteria
used by the IETF to determine whether a set of specifications are
eligible to become a proposed standard, a draft standard, or an actual
standard. This is a fascinating site with many interesting links to
standards.
W3E References:
- ISO (International Organization for
Standardization
-
- IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
-
- specification
-
Detail:
The proceedings of the IETF as they supervise the acceptance of Requests for
Comments, and Internet Drafts, help illuminate the steps that are taken by
standards organizations. Like cottage cheese, Internet Drafts have a shelf-life;
they either become Requests for Comments (RFC), possibly on the road to becoming
a standard, or they expire of old age at the age of six months. An RFC is either
a "proposed standard," or it is "historic," "experimental," or "informational." Proposed standards can remain at that status for two years, at which point they
will either be "elevated, depreciated, or recycled." A draft standard also has
a two-year window of opportunity within which it may be advanced to standard
status, sent back to proposed, or recycled. A genuine standard has proven its
stability and will be around indefinitely, unless the changing network makes
it obsolete, at which point it would become a standard of only historic interest.
Should a standard become historic, it would be replaced by another standard,
created from scratch, which would have to start at the proposed level.
E-Mail:
The World Wide Web Encyclopedia at wwwe@tab.com
E-Mail: Charles River Media at chrivmedia@aol.com
Copyright 1996 Charles River Media. All rights reserved.
Text - Copyright © 1995, 1996 - James Michael Stewart & Ed Tittel.
Web Layout - Copyright © 1995, 1996 - LANWrights &
IMPACT Online.
Revised -- February 20th, 1996