On Fri, 29 May 2009 09:04:39 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> In message <003a5518$0$9673$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, Steven D'Aprano
> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 28 May 2009 20:58:07 +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>
>>> In message <0039e83c$0$9673$c3e8...@news.astraweb.com>, Steven
>>> D'Aprano wrote:
>>>
>>>> A good UI standard should mean that:
>>>>
>>>> * all functionality should be discoverable without reading the
>>>> manual;
>>>
>>> Which means no scripting languages are allowed?
>>
>> "Should", not "must".
>
> If you meant "may or may not", why don't you say "may or may not"?
Are you a native English speaker? "Should" does not mean "may or may
not". There is an enormous difference in meaning between e.g. "I should
feed the dog" and "I may or may not feed the dog". The first case means
that you have a need to feed the dog, but you are not obliged to, while
the second case means you are indifferent to whether or not you will feed
the dog.
(Strictly speaking, "may or may not" is redundant, although often used to
emphasise the indifference. If you may do something, then by definition
you also may not do it.)
The distinction between "may", "should" and "must" is also very common in
RFCs. As a tech, I would have expected you to have been aware of that.
For example, picking one at random, RFC 1866 (literally the first one I
looked up!):
may
A document or user interface is conforming whether this
statement applies or not.
must
Documents or user agents in conflict with this statement
are not conforming.
should
If a document or user agent conflicts with this
statement, undesirable results may occur in practice
even though it conforms to this specification.
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1866.html
To put it another way: "may" is optional, "should" is recommended, and
"must" is compulsory.
--
Steven
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