Technology Standards
Why are open standards important? See Open Standards in Everyday Life
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Parts of a Standard
A standard specifies two main things:
- An interface/API – How a client of the technology invokes the behavior
- Expected external behavior – What functionality the client can expect
A standard specified in this manner can be implemented in different but compatible ways. It's especially important for the interface to specify what behavior is provided but not how it's implemented; this allows for multiple implementations.
Importance of Standards
Technology standards provide two main advantages:
- Implementation independence – Client code can use any implementation and thus is not tied to a single vendor.
- Interoperability – The client and provider can be implemented independently and will still work together.
Interoperability
I would suggest that a standard can also encompass:
3. Organization and representation of data - How data is referenced and the relationship between multiple data items. Examples include numerous industry standard data models like IEC 61970 for the E&U space.
I might also suggest that a companion for #1 would be:
4. A protocol/service - The specification of the link between the client and the server for how to communicate the behavior request to the server. There are numerous industry standards in this regard in the E&U and C&P spaces. Too many to list here.