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Questions tagged [specifications]

A specification (often abbreviated as spec) is an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product, or service.

Taken from Wikipedia: Specification (technical standard)

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What is the difference between requirements and specifications?

I've been tasked with developing requirements and specifications for a project our group is starting. I realized that I don't know the difference; a Google search just confused me more -- it seems some people say that specifications are…
user39685
140
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5 answers

Two HTML elements with same id attribute: How bad is it really?

Just browsing the google maps source code. In their header, they have 2 divs with id="search" one contains the other, and also has jstrack="1" attribute. There is a form separating them like so:
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Best practices for making header file?

What things should absolutely always/never be included in a header file? Functions: what must go in the header file and what mustn't Constants: Is it good practice to define lot of constants in a header file? Any other good practices for C header…
Moshe Magnes
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Java: "Heap pollution"

A "Heap Pollution" as in Non-Reifiable Types (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Generics (Updated)) Why is it called that way?
user18404
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3 answers

Why are exception specifications bad?

Back in school some 10+ years ago, they were teaching you to use exception specifiers. Since my background is as one of them Torvaldish C programmers who stubbornly avoids C++ unless forced to, I only end up in C++ sporadically, and when I do I…
user29079
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Dealing with bad/incomplete/unclear specifications?

I'm working on a project where our dev team gets the specifications from the business part of the company. Both the business management and the IT management require estimates and deadline projections, as they should. The good thing is that…
eagerMoose
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2 answers

What is the difference between technical specifications and design documents?

What are technical specifications? Are they the same as design documents. If not, what is the difference and some examples?
John V
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Experience of Python's “PEP-302 New Import Hooks”

I'm one of the developers of Ruby (CRuby). We are working on Ruby 2.0 release (planned to release 2012/Feb). Python has "PEP302: New Import Hooks" (2003): This PEP proposes to add a new set of import hooks that offer better customization of the…
Koichi Sasada
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If the spec is flawed, should it still be followed?

I have been assigned to develop an integration to one of my employer's applications to an external system developed by our client. Our client's specification for the integration that has some blatant flaws related to security. The flaws would allow…
Nick Orlando
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What Specifications should a Programmer Seek in a Computer Purchase ? Or, What Computer should I buy?

I wish to acquire a new computer that is specially designed for programming. I would like to build it myself for the learning experience, but am willing to purchase it made as well. Basically I have downloaded so many files dedicated to programming…
Matthew Moisen
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How can a non-technical person learn to write a spec for small projects?

How can a non-technical person learn to write specs for small projects? A friend of mine is trying to outsource some development on a statistics project. In particular, he does a lot of work in excel, and wants to outsource the creation of scripts…
Joseph Turian
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What grammatical tense should I write my specifications in?

We are currently writing functional and technical specifications in a two column format; summary sentence and technical detail. The details often refer to an appendix with diagrams, layout designs ect. However I am struggling with what tense to…
John
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How up-to-date is the Joel test?

I want to convince my partners that we should have a spec and that bugs should get fixed before writing new code. Should I refer to the Joel test? Do you think that the Joel test is up to date? I think that not having a spec is bad project…
Niklas Rosencrantz
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How do I write a functional specification quickly and efficiently

So I just read some fabulous articles by Joel on specs here. (Was written in 2000!!) I read all 4 parts, but I'm looking for some methodical approaches to writing my specs. I'm the only lonely dev, working on this fairly complicated app (or family…
gideon
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How do I move a client from UI mockups to a set of real requirements?

Say you are given a mock-up of 25 screens of the visual states of your application. The expectation is that this is enough for us to be confident we can develop and hand it to the original stakeholder or customer as a finished application, and they…
MetaGuru
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