Reference implementation (computing)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In computing, a reference implementation (or, less frequently, sample implementation or model implementation) is a software example of a specification. These are intended to help others implement their own version of the specification or find problems during the creation of a specification. The following example clarifies this specification:
| “ | A reference implementation is, in general, an implementation of a specification to be used as a definitive interpretation for that specification. During the development of the ... conformance test suite, at least one relatively trusted implementation of each interface is necessary to (1) discover errors or ambiguities in the specification, and (2) validate the correct functioning of the test suite.[1] | ” |
| “ | Characteristics of a Reference Implementation: (1) Developed concurrently with spec and test suite; (2) Verifies that specification is implementable; (3) Enables the test suite to be tested; (4) Serves as Gold Standard against which other implementations can be measured; (5) Helps to clarify intent of specification where conformance tests are inadequate[2] | ” |
A reference implementation may or may not be production quality. For example, the Fraunhofer reference implementation of the MP3 standard usually does not compare favorably to other common implementations. These include implementations such as LAME in listening tests that determine sound quality.
Reference implementations may also be prohibited by licensing for commercial use. For example, The Sun Microsystems Java EE RI application server is referenced by a great deal of Java EE training literature. However, it cannot be licensed for production use.
