When I got involved in the C standard back in 1983, the world was different. Most of us compiler vendors cared intensely about forming a good standard. Many of our potential customers had a different focus. They were more concerned that we didn't mess up a language they had come to depend on. Experience with other major programming language standards was not encouraging. Delays, excess invention, even litigation seemed to be par for the course.

C helped usher in a new era. Here was a standard being formed by active representatives from a broad community. No single vendor dominated the proceedings, nor did a small clique of language inventors. Here was a standard with widespread commercial support from the outset.

And that's what has become the norm. Computing is a big and very competitive business. Complying with standards is of interest to more than just government contractors. The world can't afford bad standards any more. So everyone seems to have something to say about programming standards now.

Even more interesting, programming standards have become a serious matter in the international community. With the growth in international trade, everyone wants a level playing field. Having serious international standards helps the small players compete with the larger ones. It also helps the larger players meet the needs of the smaller markets.

Both ANSI and ISO are scrabbling to adapt to this new state of affairs. The volume of commentary and the pressure to develop timely standards keeps growing, even as the standards become more complex. I don't see how they are going to change fast enough, but I know that they must.

P.J. Plauger
pjp@plauger.uunet
pjp@plauger.uunet.uu.net