On Monday, 8 January 2024 at 23:42:49 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
>On 1/8/2024 11:44 AM, Bruce Carneal wrote:
>I'm not saying we should drop specs of course, in fact I consider them a requirement at this level, rather that we should understand their limitations and the benefits provided by working code with examples.
I agree, and that's why specifications usually include examples. Examples in the spec should be specific and minimal. ...
Yes, examples are good but there is a qualitative difference between the pseudo-code of never compiled examples in a standalone spec and the actual code of examples compiled by a prototype implementation.
Additionally noted earlier: a naked spec (no implementation) tempts us to speculate about the relative difficulty and invasiveness of the eventual, often long delayed, implementation.
I don't think we should require an implementation to accompany a proposal. I do think, however, that proposals that have them will be easier to evaluate properly and deserving of expedited review.