On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Thor HW wrote:
> However you look at it, a RI clarifies some ambiguities in the spec.
> If the implementation api/contract respnds differently than the RI
> (assuming the RI conforms to the spec) then it is not compliant.
This is exactly the concern Vince was bringing up, and I think it is a
legitimate one. If Tomcat is to be both a RI and a production
implementation, then it may have some features that are not in the
spec, so relying on it as a RI will be problematic. Somehow the
division needs to be made clear. Maybe Watchdog does that, I don't
know.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Milt Epstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: Thor HW <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 8:58 AM
> Subject: Re: Tomcat-as-a-reference implementation?
>
>
> > On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Thor HW wrote:
> >
> > > The 2 original posts had mentioned those things.
> > >
> > > 3. Vendor Y's servlet engine doesn't implement Feature X, or
> > > > > implements
> > > > > > it differently than Tomcat.
> > > > > > 4. Therefore, Vendor Y's servlet engine isn't spec-compliant.
> > > If implement isn't a HOW-TO then I'm not sure what is.
> >
> > As I suggested previously, I'm 99% sure he meant "in terms of how it
> > behaves", not "in terms of the algorithm it uses". That seems quite
> > clear from the context.
> >
> >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Milt Epstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > To: Thor HW <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 8:14 AM
> > > Subject: Re: Tomcat-as-a-reference implementation?
> > >
> > >
> > > > On Wed, 16 Feb 2000, Thor HW wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I believe the Watchdog parts are the compliance tests.
> > > > >
> > > > > As for HOW vendor Y implements a feature, I doubt you would know
> > > > > unless you decompiled it, which would be illegal. All you really
> > > > > care about is that a spec feature is implemented, not HOW. A
> > > > > reference implementation is refered to when the spec alone is not
> > > > > crystal clear and an example of how the feature is to react is
> > > > > needed.
> > > >
> > > > The posts you are responding to make no explicit reference to "HOW" a
> > > > feature is implemented, and any implicit reference is to the black box
> > > > behavior of the feature rather than the algorithm used (at least, that
> > > > seemed clear to me).
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > As to the production quality, if a vendor can't cut it against
> > > > [ ... ]
> > > >
> > > > Similar, there was no mention of "production quality" in the previous
> > > > posts, so I'm not sure of the relevance of this.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: Stark, Scott (Exchange) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > > > Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 8:05 AM
> > > > > Subject: Re: Tomcat-as-a-reference implementation?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I agree with this logic from a vendors perspective.
> > > > > Conformance should be based on a well defined compatability
> > > > > test suite and any servlet engine vendor can measure
> > > > > themselves against. Does such a test suite exist?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > From: Vince Bonfanti [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2000 9:26 AM
> > > > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > Subject: Re: Tomcat-as-a-reference implementation?
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Yes, I'm concerned about this from the perspective of the vendor
> of a
> > > > > > servlet/JSP engine that strives to faithfully implement the specs.
> My
> > > > > > concern is that people will apply the following logic to non-spec
> > > > > > features:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > 1. Tomcat is the Reference Implementation of servlets/JSP.
> > > > > > 2. Tomcat implements Feature X.
> > > > > > 3. Vendor Y's servlet engine doesn't implement Feature X, or
> > > > > > implements it differently than Tomcat.
> > > > > > 4. Therefore, Vendor Y's servlet engine isn't spec-compliant.
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
Milt Epstein
Research Programmer
Software/Systems Development Group
Computing and Communications Services Office (CCSO)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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