RFC 2360 (rfc2360) - Page 1 of 20

Guide for Internet Standards Writers

Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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Network Working Group                                  G. Scott, Editor
Request for Comments: 2360           Defense Information Systems Agency
BCP: 22                                                       June 1998
Category: Best Current Practice


                  Guide for Internet Standards Writers

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document is a guide for Internet standard writers.  It defines
   those characteristics that make standards coherent, unambiguous, and
   easy to interpret.  In addition, it singles out usage believed to
   have led to unclear specifications, resulting in non-interoperable
   interpretations in the past.  These guidelines are to be used with
   RFC 2223, "Instructions to RFC Authors".

Table of Contents

   1     Introduction   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   2     General Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
   2.1   Discussion of Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.2   Protocol Description   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   2.3   Target Audience  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   2.4   Level of Detail  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   2.5   Change Logs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   2.6   Protocol Versions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   2.7   Decision History   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   2.8   Response to Out of Specification Behavior  . . . . . . . . . 6
   2.9   The Liberal/Conservative Rule  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   2.10  Handling of Protocol Options   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
   2.11  Indicating Requirement Levels  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
   2.12  Notational Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
   2.13  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   2.14  Network Management Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   2.15  Scalability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   2.16  Network Stability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   2.17  Internationalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11



Scott                    Best Current Practice
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