3 ms·
A reference implementation is a good test suite but a poor substitute for a standard. It's huge and you can't just sit down and read it, you have to simulate it
by prodigal_erik 17y ago
A reference implementation is a good test suite but a poor substitute for a standard. It's huge and you can't just sit down and read it, you have to simulate it in your head to really understand what it would allow or demand. (This is also an awful problem with the HTML5 spec.)
- cabalamat 17y agoOn the contrary, its a written standard that you "have to simulate in your head". If you have an implementation, you can simply run the code and see what it does!