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Featuritis and Document Sprawl

Dimension WHATWG HTML Living Standard RFC Process Post-Document Culture
Scalability Model Continuous integration of spec updates; no versioned snapshots Versioned proposals with feedback cycles Narrative-driven, modular, often Git-backed
Documentation Style Living spec in HTML format, updated via GitHub Structured markdown or text proposals Structured memos, markdown, or metadata-rich formats
Governance Model Maintained by browser vendors (Apple, Google, Mozilla, Microsoft) Community-driven, often with formal review boards Organizational or cultural, often decentralized
Versioning No fixed versions; always current Explicit versioning (e.g., RFC 2616, RFC 9110) Git-based or memo-based version control
Failure Modes Risk of vendor dominance or lack of transparency Risk of stagnation or siloed knowledge Risk of fragmentation or lack of formal structure

“The concept of a living standard is that it is never complete and is always being updated and improved. New features can be added but functionality will not be removed.”
WHATWG HTML Living Standard

“RFCs are living documents that drive alignment across teams, create clarity, and provide a roadmap for implementation… Scalability: Creates a repeatable process that scales as the organization grows.”
PointFive Engineering Blog

“Instead of using PowerPoint, Amazon executives sit around a table and read six-page memos in silence. This strategy allows a company’s executives to discuss the idea and review the details after reading the memo.”
Forbes on Amazon’s Six-Page Memo Format

References

http://wiki.c2.com/?DesignByContractVsProgrammerTests

http://sett.ociweb.com/sett/settSep2011.html

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7353767

https://www.eiffel.org/doc/eiffel/Examples

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/481312/why-is-design-by-contract-not-so-popular-compared-to-test-driven-development

http://se.inf.ethz.ch/people/ciupa/papers/esecfse07.pdf

http://se.ethz.ch/~meyer/publications/lncs/model_library.pdf

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15384351

http://www.math.md/files/csjm/v25-n1/v25-n1-(pp44-74).pdf

https://www.bbv.ch/images/bbv/pdf/downloads/V2_Clean_Code_V3.pdf

http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7454/1/wafa.basit.phd.thesis.pdf

https://gleichmann.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/test-driven-development-and-design-by-contract-friend-or-foe/

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