On Jul 27, 2012, at 10:27 AM, Craig Ringer wrote:
> On 07/27/2012 10:13 PM, Lance Andersen - Oracle wrote:
>>
>> There has always been a way for individuals to provide feedback who are not part of the EG prior to JCP 2.8. I have tried to respond to those queries/requests that either have come to the EG mailing list or directly to me. I am continuing to clean things up as I can within the JDBC spec as I know there are areas that need clarity, but it takes time and in some cases reaching agreement as when there were areas that were not clear, some vendors chose different paths. We have tried to be better and will continue to work towards improving the spec to the best we can.
> Of course; no spec is perfect, and no issues get magically cleaned up in a day without time and effort. Thanks for all the time you put in.
>
> For what it's worth, as a user I've personally found the JDBC spec to be clear, easy to read and helpful when I've needed to refer to it - which has been rarely because of the good JavaDoc and API. It's a valuable resource and one I appreciate. Working with EE I've learned to really appreciate the difference a good spec makes and how frustrating a less solid one can be.
One of the challenges with JDBC is that the JDBC tutorial actually has more detail in some cases than the actual spec. Some vendors have leveraged that when questions arise others made a best guess off the javadocs. I am need to go through everything and sync them up so there is a consistent view, but have not found enough bandwidth as the tutorial is kind of beefy.
>
> Frustrations will always arise with implementers of any spec, and more recently when I've seen people complaining I've generally asked them to think about bugging the EG rather than just complaining. The same reason I'm making a pest of myself here.
Yes, it would be ideal if instead of complaining and being frustrated, interested parties would help us make the specs better, pointing out areas that are less clear and in some cases suggest ways to provide clarity.
Best
Lance
>
> --
> Craig Ringer
Lance Andersen| Principal Member of Technical Staff | +1.781.442.2037
Oracle Java Engineering
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Burlington, MA 01803
Lance.Andersen_at_oracle.com