5 ms·
It doesn't matter when it came out, it doesn't matter that it it descriptive. It is the standard, period. Yes, CSV is much, much older. In fact it predates per
by usrbinbash 2y ago
It doesn't matter when it came out, it doesn't matter that it it descriptive. It is the standard, period.
Yes, CSV is much, much older. In fact it predates personal computers. And it went through changes. Again: None of that matters. We have a standard, we should use the standard, and systems should demand the standard.
Standards are meant to ensure minimal-friction interoperability. If systems don't enforce standards, then there is no point in having a standard in the first place.
- tttp 2y ago"This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind."
- teddyh 2y agoNote the qualifier: “not an Internet standard” (my emphasis).
- usrbinbash 2y agoAnd again: None of that matters. I am not talking about formalities here, I am talking about technical realities. Whether it is formally called a standard or no doesn't change the fact that this is the document everyone points at when determining what CSV is and is supposed to look like. So it is de-facto a standard. Call it a "quasi standard" if that makes you happy.
- teddyh 2y agoOh no; I agree with you completely. I just wanted to point out that the document does not disclaim being a “standard”, is just says that it is not an “Internet standard”.
- usrbinbash 2y agoMy mistake, in that case, thank you :-)
- jhbadger 2y agoYes, but you could argue that web browsers shouldn't accept broken HTML either. But they do, and that's why there are so much broken HTML out there in the wild. Same with broken CSV -- basically people's measure is "if Excel can read it correctly, it's fine" even if not every CSV library in every programming language can.