Where are programming languages specified?
Although textbooks and vendor manuals often describe programming language syntax, semantics, and libraries in considerable detail, they are secondary sources. They cannot be considered definitive specifications of how the languages and their libraries are expected to behave, especially when vendors are so fond of supplying often-proprietary extensions. The formal specifications of major programming languages are complex documents published by national standards bodies, such as ANSI (American National Standards Institute) or BSI (British Standards Institute), or international standards bodies, such as ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) or ISO (International Organization for Standardization). It is a curious fact that most standards bodies resell work at high prices that was entirely developed at no cost to the standards organization by volunteers over many years at considerable personal expense. Although electronic versions of all ECMA Standards are free, both printed an
