I'd agree that the browser spec is incredibly complex, but a large part of it is due to not wanting to break compatibility with the web. Many of the problems ta

I'd agree that the browser spec is incredibly complex, but a large part of it is due to not wanting to break compatibility with the web. Many of the problems tackled by the browser are just complicated, and there's no shortcuts. If we look at other technologies, the same thing happens there. How expensive would it be to write a new OS from scratch? A new C++ compiler? A new UI toolkit? These technologies are all incredibly complex. Heck, consider how many projects are just frontends for LLVM. The LLVM IR claims to be well documented [0], but AFAIK it lacks a formal spec as well as multiple independent implementations. [0] http://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html http://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html