Hi Brian, others, (... apologies for potentially pulling this thread direction you didn't have in mind when initiating this conversation) On Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 10:34:29AM +1300, Brian E Carpenter wrote: > Do people think it's a good or bad idea to label pseudocode > in an RFC with <CODE BEGINS>? I think pseudo-code in RFCs is a bad idea... regardless of the label! :-) Pseudo-code literally is just fantasy speak; probably closer related to dada poetry (it being a chaotic expression rather than something that is productive!). Pseudo-code - by both definition and tradition - cannot be interpreted in any meaningful way. There is no compiler available for 'pseudo-code', so how can humans ever stand a chance to make sense of what the authors intended? I'd like to point out two examples: Example #1: Dissemination of Flow Specification Rules (now RFC 8955) ----------- One of the challenges with implementing Flowspec rule ordering was that the original specification included pseudo-code, which was one of the aspects that multiple implementers ended up mis-implementing to some degree, because there was ambiguity: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5575#section-5.1 When the -bis effort started, it was pointed out that the pseudo-code was highly problematic and one of the sources of confusion, which led to the -bis document being needed in the first place! The authors agreed and graciously contributed their time to improve the document by replacing pseudo-code with python code. Fantasy code: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-idr-rfc5575bis-04#section-5.1 Actual code: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-idr-rfc5575bis-05#section-5.1 Anyone will agree that the actual code serves a purpose, whereas the fantasy pseudo-code introduces more room for implementation error. Example #2: RPKI Origin Validation (RFC 6811) ----------- This snippet increased confusion, rather than help prevent it: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6811#section-2.1 --- All in all - I believe pseudo-code should be eradicated from the IETF's body of work, rather than be wrapped or labeled. Use of pseudo-code should be discouraged at all levels of our organization. Kind regards, Job
