Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

postel's law

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: postel's law
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

1

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

The design principle that software should be conservative as to its own behaviour (i.e. strictly compliant with specifications) but liberal in the behaviour it tolerates from other systems.

Example Sentences

"Contravariance is consistent with Postel's Law: “Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send.”"

Etymology

Named after Internet pioneer Jon Postel (1943–1998).

Questions

What does postel's law mean?: The design principle that software should be conservative as to its own behaviour (i.e. strictly compliant with specifications) but liberal in the behaviour it tolerates from other systems.
Where does postel's law come from?: Named after Internet pioneer Jon Postel (1943–1998).

How to pronounce postel's law

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