IETF Logo Mail Archive

Re: Protocol Definition

John C Klensin <john@jck.com> Thu, 05 January 2012 15:13 UTC

Return-Path: <john@jck.com>
X-Original-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Delivered-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4171921F8801 for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Thu, 5 Jan 2012 07:13:31 -0800 (PST)
X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at amsl.com
X-Spam-Flag: NO
X-Spam-Score: -102.599
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-102.599 tagged_above=-999 required=5 tests=[BAYES_00=-2.599, USER_IN_WHITELIST=-100]
Received: from mail.ietf.org ([12.22.58.30]) by localhost (ietfa.amsl.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id jJ--sxZnkB4H for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Thu, 5 Jan 2012 07:13:30 -0800 (PST)
Received: from bs.jck.com (ns.jck.com [209.187.148.211]) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9586F21F8750 for <ietf@ietf.org>; Thu, 5 Jan 2012 07:13:30 -0800 (PST)
Received: from [127.0.0.1] (helo=localhost) by bs.jck.com with esmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1Rip0O-0001rW-Jx; Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:13:24 -0500
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:13:23 -0500
From: John C Klensin <john@jck.com>
To: dcrocker@bbiw.net, ietf@ietf.org
Subject: Re: Protocol Definition
Message-ID: <B7092FD9FD5F81DC5CBF9D81@PST.JCK.COM>
In-Reply-To: <4F05B856.9050205@dcrocker.net>
References: <CAD7Ssm-Vetqmh3sxMWRiOHysp+XUaas7XuBkeg803mkTCsA0vQ@mail.gmail.com> <alpine.OSX.2.01.1201031756290.15402@rcdn-vpn-client-10-89-1-59.cisco.com> <07F7D7DED63154409F13298786A2ADC9042C5169@EXRAD5.ad.rad.co.il> <4F05B856.9050205@dcrocker.net>
X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Win32)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline
X-Mailman-Approved-At: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:51:12 -0800
X-BeenThere: ietf@ietf.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12
Precedence: list
List-Id: IETF-Discussion <ietf.ietf.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/options/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf>
List-Post: <mailto:ietf@ietf.org>
List-Help: <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:13:31 -0000

--On Thursday, January 05, 2012 06:48 -0800 Dave CROCKER
<dhc@dcrocker.net> wrote:

> (One can quibble about the difference between algorithm and
> program.  An algorithm is a component of a program.  The
> distinction is relevant here because a protocol is typically a
> complete mechanism rather than being a component of the
> mechanisms.  On the other hand, an entire Internet service
> might comprise multiple protocols.)

Or an algorithm is an abstraction (usually mathematical as
distinct from some other sort of specification)  and the program
(or part of it) is a specific realization of that abstraction.
The difference between that distinction and the one you make is
that we have a long history of correct algorithms and incorrect
or inadequate implementations.

   john

v2.23.0 | Report a Bug | By Email