Cascading Style Sheets
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The CSS Recommendation Track

By fantasai, 1 November 2007 (Permalink)
Categories: general

In the 2007 CSS Snapshot I briefly explained the W3C Process, how it relates to the CSS Working Group's experience, and how its stages do not correspond very well to stability levels in our work. In this post I want to outline the stages that I've observed in our work of defining CSS and point out some examples from our active repetoire. (As with the official W3C process stages, a spec can move backward in response to feedback as well as forward.)

Exploring

In this stage the spec is often incomplete, possibly changing greatly between drafts, and possibly including many features that will be dropped as the module matures. Examples of specs at this stage include:

• CSS Grid Layout
• CSS Advanced Layout
• CSS Generated Content
• CSS Tables Level 3

Rewriting

Some modules enter this stage, where large parts of the spec are rewritten. Examples of specs at this stage include:

• CSS Text Level 3
• CSS Text Layout Level 3
• CSS Fonts Level 3 may also enter this stage.

Refining

At this point the spec is mostly complete and the scope of its functionality is well-defined, but the spec still needs several cycles of publishing, review, and revision to uncover issues and resolve them. Examples of specs in this state include:

• CSS Backgrounds and Borders Level 3
• CSS Multi-column Layout Level 3 is near the end of this stage
• CSS Values and Units is almost at this stage
• CSS Box Module Level 3

Stabilizing

At this point the spec is almost stable enough for CR, but still needs some well-defined changes from e.g. last-call comments, or general minor polishing. Specs in this state include:

• CSS Ruby
• Media Queries
• CSS Paged Media Level 3
• Selectors Level 3
• CSS Namespaces

Call for Implementations

At this point the WG believes the specification to be complete and precise enough to be implemented, and by transitioning it into the CR status has issued a call for implementations and test cases. Specs in this state include:

• CSS Color Level 3 sections 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, and 4.5.2

Recommended

Although the test suite and implementation reports may not be done yet and there may still be a few minor issues left, at this point the WG has enough implementation experience that it considers the spec ready for wide use. Specs in this state include:

• CSS2.1
• CSS Color Level 3 except sections 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, and 4.5.2 (which have no known implementations)
• Selectors Level 3 is here in spirit; there are still a few changes needed to pull it back to CR

Completed

At this point the test suite and implementation reports are all done, the specification is officially a W3C Recommendation, and no changes are expected. None of our specs have reached this state yet.

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