Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!barmar From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: net.lang Subject: Re: Standardization Message-ID: <3744@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Tue, 5-Mar-85 02:21:19 EST Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.3744 Posted: Tue Mar 5 02:21:19 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 6-Mar-85 03:13:01 EST References: <322@gumby.UUCP> <7025@watdaisy.UUCP> Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Distribution: net Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 35 In article <7025@watdaisy.UUCP> ndiamond@watdaisy.UUCP (Norman Diamond) writes: >Another analogy: In North America, the residential standard for electricity >is around 120 volts, 60 cycles. In Europe, it is around 220 or 240 volts, >50 cycles. OK, in the enclosing domain, there's no standard. This is actually a very useful analogy. To extend it, I can go to Radio Shack and pick up a device that will allow me to plug my American appliances into a European outlet; it is called a converter. This is applicable to computer languages: if there are two very similar standards then it is not very much work to implement a converter. Of course, if there are too many standards then it becomes difficult to find the right converter. The problem of multiple standards is not new. There are multiple standards for color television encoding (NTSC in America, others in Europe), multiple standard natural languages (English, French, German, Chinese, etc), two standard American videocassette formats (VHS and Beta). And in computers there are a number of de facto standard operating systems (CP/M, MS-DOS, Unix, etc.), networking protocols (TCP/IP, ISO), byte sizes (8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 36-bit). In all these cases, multiple standards are annoying, but they don't completely destroy the worth of the standards. Just as you can go to the video store and have your choice of renting a tape in Beta or VHS format, and you can go to the computer store and buy Zork for the IBM-PC or the Commodore whatever, you will probably be able to specify whether you have ANSI or ISO Pascal when you purchase a Pascal program. And, just as I can't swap tapes with my friends who have Beta VCRs, and I can't talk to people who speak a different natural language, if I have ISO Pascal then I may have difficulty swapping programs with someone who has ANSI Pascal. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar