Standards are rules and customs that the software industry considers to be important and are codified in some way, either as a formal specification like an ISO standard or a language specification or as a more informal document like rules for behavior at a workplace.
33
votes
7answers
1k views
How do people know the C++ Standard so well?
First of all, this is not a formal C++ question.
I have been working with C++ for many years. Most of time, I improve my skill by working on different projects, reading good books, and learning from ...
25
votes
11answers
2k views
Why are there so many competing filesystem designs? [closed]
Just a quick question, but why are there so many file systems still competing and in use today? (ntfs, fat32, ext3(ffs), etc)
It seems that file system designers could agree upon the best aspects of ...
22
votes
1answer
607 views
Why have hardware-accelerated vector graphics not taken off?
I'm working on an app that involves real-time manipulation of vector paths at 60fps, and I'm very surprised by how little information there is on the subject. At first, I tried to implement my idea ...
17
votes
3answers
975 views
Why do programming language (open) standards cost money?
Isn't it counter-productive to ask for 384 Swiss franks for C11 or 352 Swiss franks for C++11, if the aim is to make the standards widely adopted?
Please note, I'm not ranting at all, and I'm not ...
17
votes
2answers
774 views
Has Little Endian won?
When teaching recently about the Big vs. Little Endian battle, a student asked whether it had been settled, and I realized I didn't know. Looking at the Wikipedia article, it seems that the most ...
15
votes
9answers
1k views
Python Coding standards vs. productivity
I work for a large humanitarian organisation, on a project building software that could help save lives in emergencies by speeding up the distribution of food. Many NGOs desperately need our software ...
15
votes
1answer
451 views
Is C#-4.0 an open standard?
The Ecma-334 (ISO/IEC 23270:2006) standard corresponds to the version 2.0 of the language.
Specification of version 4.0 is freely available from Microsoft, but Microsoft's open specifications list ...
14
votes
12answers
647 views
Is it worth reading the language specification?
I'm wondering if it is worth reading language specifications/standard documents (e.g. The Java Language Specification) if you aren't going to write a compiler/interpreter for the language or something ...
14
votes
2answers
524 views
Standard practices for an architect
I am the architect for my group. Unfortunately I was given this position organically and there are no standards in place for how I should do my job. At different companies, how does the architect role ...
14
votes
6answers
595 views
Does it make sense to standardize including a created date and last updated date field on all DB tables?
My boss is currently attempting to apply some development standards to our team, so we had a meeting yesterday to discuss the standards which was mostly going well until she brought up:
All DB ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
What standard superseded 830-1998?
I have been looking into how to document software projects more formally, and I have learned about IEEE 830-1998: Recommended Practice for Software Requirements Specifications. However, as you can ...
11
votes
5answers
552 views
Why is it unrealistic to expect all browsers to support the same standards? [closed]
Ideally, we would have different browsers supporting the same standards and same code producing the same result on all browsers.
That hasn't happened yet. What are the reasons why?
11
votes
1answer
268 views
What are the problems python 3 new features solve?
Python 3 new features say:
we’re mostly fixing well-known annoyances and warts, and removing a
lot of old cruft
It mentions what is different (the fix) but not why (the problems). I have have ...
10
votes
6answers
451 views
Standardization across an organization: Good or Bad?
Currently I work for an java shop that places a high value on standardization. This includes common things(styles, javadocs, formatting, etc.) on to what I consider slightly more draconian ...
10
votes
4answers
364 views
How should standards and process improvements be introduced to an organization without them?
I've been tasked with improving the software development process through the implementation of process improvements, of which we will most likely be using CMMI for Development, Version 1.3 as a ...
9
votes
11answers
2k views
What defines robust code?
My professor keeps referring to this Java example when he speaks of "robust" code:
if (var == true) {
...
} else if (var == false) {
...
} else {
...
}
He claims that "robust code" ...
9
votes
1answer
576 views
What is the current status of software support for JPEG-2000?
The general recommendation to record original scanned images used to be "use TIFF". But programmers need evolution of format for "evolution of software", and I need to evolve my system to change from ...
8
votes
4answers
707 views
Is there any difference between return n and exit(n) in C?
Is there any difference between return n (in the main function) and exit(n) in C? Is it defined by C or POSIX standards or it depends on OS or compiler?
8
votes
4answers
500 views
Standards for reading code out loud?
Has anyone defined a standard for reading code out loud, for any language? I imagine this is important to software like screen readers for the vision-impaired. This sort of thing also comes up when ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Should I use WADL to describe my RESTful API?
I'm about to embark on a project that makes extensive use of a properly RESTful approach. That is, it uses HATEOAS and serves up resources in a manner that allows for general exploration by a client.
...
8
votes
1answer
356 views
How important is the Acid3 Test anymore and what should replace it?
For a long while the default guide to latest standards support for browsers was the Acid 3 Test. I've just run this on Windows 7 (x64) for Chrome 15.0, Firefox 7.0, Safari 5.1 and IE 9.0 and they all ...
7
votes
1answer
125 views
How and where do I publish my open standard?
I have been writing an open standard for a protocol I am developing. As far as writing concerns I have it under control. But the main question is where can I publish such document. I have been ...
7
votes
2answers
180 views
What defines a standard?
What defines a standard like HTML5, C++0x, etc.? Is it just that you hand something in to W3C/ANSI/ISO/..., they produce a couple hundred pages long document and suddenly it's a standard?
Can't I, as ...
7
votes
1answer
310 views
Are there tools that do automated validation of database standards?
I'm looking for something akin to FxCop, but for databases. Basically, I want to have a tool where I configure my database standards (naming conventions, field types, or more complex custom rules). ...
6
votes
10answers
3k views
Is there a universal date format that anyone in the world can understand?
In Canada, everyone is familiar with the date format YYYY-MM-DD. In Europe or South Africa, they prefer DD-MM-YYYY. There are users from South Africa who get confused with the YYYY-MM-DD date ...
6
votes
9answers
393 views
How important is it that you know the C++ standard?
I did try searching, but I did not see a similar question (either that or my search terminology was incorrect - if so, feel free to close).
I am an avid user of SO, and I notice that there are lots ...
6
votes
2answers
253 views
How to negotiate with software vendors who do not follow HL7 standards [closed]
Take, for instance the "", I'd hope that anyone who has spent any time in dealing with HL7 messages knows that the "" signifies that something should be deleted. "" is not an empty string, it's not a ...
6
votes
3answers
482 views
Programming standards and principles to become better programmer [closed]
I am a c# developer.
I have always been interested in increasing my skills and knowledge and trying to pickup new technology.
However now I want to enhance my knowledge in Programming standards and ...
6
votes
1answer
334 views
Change Management Standard
Is there any Change Management Standard which is widely accepted in software and other industries? I worked at several companies with absolutely different target domains (investment banking and ...
5
votes
4answers
311 views
Training a 'replacement', how to enforce standards?
Not sure that this is the right stack exchange site to ask this of, but here goes...
Scope
I work for a small company that employs a few hundred people. The development team for the company is ...
5
votes
7answers
355 views
Arguments to homologate Firefox in a Company
I developed a web project for my company and this project was designed to use Mozilla Firefox (including the javascript (jQuery)). However, now the company wants the project to be transferred to ...
5
votes
2answers
515 views
Custom HTML Tags: Are there any specifications stating a standard way to handle them?
It seems like for years they've just been given default styling and inline display. Is there a spec somewhere that has dictated this? I've looked over the RFC's but I'm not particularly good with ...
5
votes
1answer
135 views
How to learn what the industry standards/expectations are, particularly with security?
For instance, I was making my first mobile web-application about a year ago, and half-way through, someone pointed me to jQuery Mobile. Obviously this induced a total revolution in my app. Rewrote ...
5
votes
2answers
371 views
Requirement analysis software?
I've been looking for a software to help me put together requirements, activities to meet those requirements, time of completion, cost, etc, in a fairly easy fashion. Nothing too complicated it could ...
5
votes
1answer
529 views
Is there an official standard regarding user password storage practices?
I recently used a government service that I had an account for from years ago. I couldn't remember my password for the service so I used the "forgot password" link and was astonished to see that this ...
4
votes
7answers
2k views
What's the difference between the terms “protocol” and “standard”?
I find the term "protocol" confusing (in the terms of computer science that is). If the protocol is just a set of rules, wouldn't it be easier if we used the term "standard" instead (like in "HTTP ...
4
votes
3answers
290 views
Documenting and enforcing programming standards and guidelines for shared library
Myself and another developer with the go ahead from our IT director have started a general purpose library in .NET with the intention that it will provide many common purpose classes that we use in ...
4
votes
6answers
625 views
why are both index[array] and array[index] valid in C?
For example consider:
int index = 3;
int array[4] = {0, 1, 2, 3};
then both index[array] and array[index] are valid expressions, much like *(index + array) and *(array + index).
In C arrays why is ...
4
votes
3answers
261 views
Is Reading the Spec Enough? [closed]
This question is centered around Scheme but really could be applied to any LISP or programming language in general.
Background
So I recently picked up Scheme again having toyed with it once or twice ...
4
votes
2answers
167 views
How would I make a suggestion for a change to the SQL standard
If I wanted to make a suggestion to a change to how the UPDATE statement works in SQL, how would I go about it?
Is there a website for the next standard?
I googled, but just kept getting the ...
4
votes
1answer
363 views
Can a single simple language such as Clojure replace Html + JavaScript + CSS + Flash + Java Applets …? [closed]
Please do not dismiss the idea right away. I know that it is hard to compete with a mainstream approach that already works (mostly), so my question is partly "academic".
I also am aware that ...
4
votes
2answers
96 views
Sending out a “Request for Comment” when establishing a new guideline
Do you send out a "request for comment" when establishing a new company guideline or standard?
Companies need to establish consistent guidelines on things like development process, version control, ...
4
votes
2answers
149 views
Standard -server to server- and -browser to server- authentication method
I have server with some resources; until now all these resources were requested through a browser by a human user, and the authentication was made with an username/password method, that generates a ...
3
votes
7answers
578 views
Any standards for naming variables in for loops (instead of i,j,k) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why do most of us use 'i' as a loop counter variable?
I was just writing a nested loop and got to the point where I was using l and m as variables to control for ...
3
votes
8answers
292 views
Universal Standards for Data Interchange - Do they exist and do you follow them?
Mostly fact and maybe a little bit of opinion:
One of my pet peeves in programming is data interchange. I work exclusively with small business software (as opposed to working with corporate ERP ...
3
votes
2answers
220 views
C++ users proposals
I believe I have some good suggestions to improve the C++ language. Who should I contact to discuss this? Do I have the chance to be heard, especially if I'm not a renowned expert?
3
votes
4answers
795 views
C/C++: Who uses the logical operator macros from iso646.h and why?
There has been some debate at work about using the merits of using the alternative spellings for C/C++ logical operators in iso646.h:
and &&
and_eq &=
bitand &
bitor ...
2
votes
6answers
300 views
How to define a natural id in database?
There are a lot of manuals. I am trying to create an database to hold information of these documents. But, there is a small problem. How can I give meaningful id to the manuals? Are there any standard ...
2
votes
5answers
377 views
At what point is it good to try to reinvent a standard?
Take a look at this picture from XKCD.com
Browsers are a good example of this. While I develop websites for them, I have to search through the unique 'standards' for each to make sure my sites are ...
2
votes
4answers
325 views
Standardised Programming Techniques / Procedures
I don't know if this is a question, or a start of a conversation or even a completely irrelevant topic.
Why isn't programming more standardised?
Im really new to this and I find it hellish ...
