Should one use the legal "shall" in requirements documents and specification documents? [migrated]
Posted
by
Billy ONeal
on Programmers
See other posts from Programmers
or by Billy ONeal
Published on 2012-10-09T07:03:28Z
Indexed on
2012/10/09
15:54 UTC
Read the original article
Hit count: 219
Requirements
|english
At least in the US, "will" has replaced "shall" in most every context, with the notable exception of the "legal shall". Shall is used instead of will in legal documents to indicate a sense of obligation or requirement; e.g. "the defendant shall vacate the premises by October 16".
In software, requirements documents and specification documents serve close to the same purpose as the aforementioned legal documents; does this mean shall should be used in a similar fashion as a result?
© Programmers or respective owner