RE: JSR-000093: JAXR - your opinions?

[David RR Webber <Gnosis_@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by Bob Sutor
>1) the creation of the spec
2) the creation of an API that is not language-specific
3) language-specific bindings
4) conformance tests
5) certification

A natural question is how much of 2) - 5) should the creators in 1) produce.
Many people believe that conformance tests should not be done by the people
who did the spec because a neutral party might do a better job, although
possibly with less inside knowledge of ambiguity resolution that is in the
heads of the implementors. 
>>>>>>>>>>  I would say that someone like NIST and associated 
            government bodies are well placed on this and 
            extensive experience.  Also - levels of conformance are
            very important - and having neutral groups determining
            this is better.

            What is VITAL is that in 1) the creators spend some 
            time ensuring that what they are developing can be
            conformance tested.  This is a critical aspect of the
            approaches we are debating - some obviously support
            conformance testing much more so than others.


The W3C and OASIS have different opinions here,
for example. ebXML will have to deal with 4) and 5) eventually.

>>>>>>>>>>>  Of course - and long term maintenance of the 
             standard.  Clearly the independent nature of the
             organizational body responsible for this is also
             a major issue long term.

In the same way, language-specific bindings can be done by the spec
implementors or by another organization. Perhaps the spec implementors can
do a better job at the bindings, if they have the resources available. This
also makes the general standards/binding development process more scalable
than always doing in one organization associated with the language.
<
>>>>>>>>>>>> On the other hand - exposure to a separate group
             provides valuable feedback that the original 
             designers necessarily will miss.

How long is a piece of string?  Ultimately the more diverse
resources that can be brought to bear the better the result.
However managing all that and making sure it functions 
smoothly is a challenge!

DW.