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"MUST", "SHALL", "SHOULD", "MAY", &c.


jstackpo

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Here is an interesting, and well phrased, discussion of the meanings and distinctions between the subject words, and others.

 

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt

 

It came from electrical (or computer) engineers (I think) but the words in question show up in RONR in lots of places.   An "RFC" is a "Request for Comments", not that it matters.

 

I particularly like the "SHALL" / "SHOULD" distinction.

 

Something for the authorship team?

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Here is an interesting, and well phrased, discussion of the meanings and distinctions between the subject words, and others.

 

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt

 

It came from electrical (or computer) engineers (I think) but the words in question show up in RONR in lots of places.   An "RFC" is a "Request for Comments", not that it matters.

 

I particularly like the "SHALL" / "SHOULD" distinction.

 

Something for the authorship team?

 

Something for the authorship team? No, not unless you want to insult their intelligence.

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I come from a software engineering background. We use the words shall, will, and should. "Will" is not included in the linked document. For us:

  • Shall rules are mandatory requirements. They must be followed and they require verification (either automatic or manual).
  • Will rules are intended to be mandatory requirements. It is expected that they will be followed, but they do not require verification. They are limited to non-safety-critical requirements that cannot be easily verified (e.g., naming conventions).
  • Should rules are advisory rules. They strongly suggest the recommended way of doing things.

We also have rules about how to get permission to break the rules. Interestingly, those rules use the word "must."

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Adding to the noise (and maybe the signal), I think one should avoid being to pedantic with semantics.  In some fields (for example, "Requirements Documents", especially when DoD is involved) these words have special precise meanings because payment on terms of a contract depend on them.  In others, the normal English rules should prevail.

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