I have heard the term RFC-compliant code in this talk at minute 1:00. What exactly does it mean?
Asked
Active
Viewed 7,058 times
6
-
A very quick search [turned up this](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RFCs). For example, the [HTTP RFC](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1945). – S3DEV Apr 08 '20 at 17:56
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Request_for_Comments Usually refers to RFCs that define the formal specifications of internet protocols. For example, here's the definition of a uri template in an rfc https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6570 – Neil Apr 08 '20 at 17:57
1 Answers
9
RFC-compliant code is code that follows the formal requirements for the protocols in the TCP/IP stack as specified in a number of RFC ("request for comments") documents published by the Internet Engineering Task Force, aka the IETF. There are many different types of RFC-Compliant requirements, such as HTTP RFC 1945, RFC 2822, RFC 2045, RFC 2046, RFC 2047, and RFC 2231. A complete list of these RFCs can be found here.
Since you requested an example, lets take a look at this Github repository file that builds an OAuth implementation for clients and servers. Specifically, the generate_nonce function. (To avoid copyright / licensing issues, the function will not be posted as part of this answer. Please click the link above to view the file).
Looking at the docstring of generate_nonce, the function "generates a random ASCII-encoded unsigned integral number in decimal representation". Then it shows the specific RFC guideline it's following: RFC 5849 - Section 3. So this function is an example of a piece of code that is RFC Compliant, specifically RFC 5849 Compliant.
