Variable Design Standard (VDS) Specification Status

This document defines the status taxonomy for Variable Design Standard (VDS) and what each status means.

Status Levels

Draft

Definition: Active development, breaking changes possible.

Characteristics:

• Specification is under active development
• Breaking changes may occur in any version (major, minor, or patch)
• Features may be added, removed, or changed
• Feedback is actively sought
• Not recommended for production use without careful evaluation

Current status: Variable Design Standard (VDS) is currently in Draft status.

Candidate Standard

Definition: Feature-complete, seeking feedback, minor changes possible.

Characteristics:

• Core specification is feature-complete
• Breaking changes limited to major versions
• Minor changes and clarifications may occur
• Seeking community feedback before stabilization
• Suitable for production use with awareness of potential minor changes

Transition criteria: Move from Draft to Candidate Standard when:

• Core features are stable
• Breaking changes are limited to major versions
• Community feedback period begins

Stable

Definition: Production-ready, breaking changes only in major versions.

Characteristics:

• Specification is stable and production-ready
• Breaking changes only in major versions (following semantic versioning)
• Minor and patch versions are backward-compatible
• Recommended for production use
• Long-term support commitment

Transition criteria: Move from Candidate Standard to Stable when:

• Sufficient community feedback received
• No major issues identified
• Implementation experience validates the specification
• Formal stabilization decision made

Deprecated

Definition: No longer recommended, migration path provided.

Characteristics:

• Specification is no longer actively maintained
• Migration path to replacement specification provided
• Security updates may still be provided
• Existing implementations continue to work
• New implementations should use replacement specification

Transition criteria: Move to Deprecated when:

• Replacement specification is available
• Migration path is documented
• Deprecation period begins (typically one major version cycle)

Current Status

Variable Design Standard (VDS) 0.5.0: Draft

The specification is in active development. While it is production-ready and used by teams, breaking changes may occur as the specification evolves based on feedback and implementation experience.

Status History

• 0.1.0 - 0.4.0: Draft
• 0.5.0: Draft (current)

Status Indicators

Status is indicated in:

• docs/index.md - Status metadata table
• docs/meta/change-log.md - Version status field
• docs/faq.md - Production-ready answer
• This document - Status definitions

Compatibility Promises by Status

Out of scope

• Tool implementation status (separate from specification status)
• Individual feature status (use versioning for feature lifecycle)
• Adoption status (tracked separately)