Request for Comments (RFC) is a document that contains the technical specifications and standards widely used on the WWW. RFCs are now considered Internet standards.
Currently, the primary publication of RFC documents is handled by the IETF under the auspices of the Internet Society (ISOC). Almost all Global Network standards exist in the form of published RFC applications. Examples:
- RFC 791 is IP
- RFC 1738 is URL
- RFC 2616 is HTTP.
RFC lifecycle
According to RFC 2026, standard’s life cycle consists of:
- Internet project. First step called Internet Draft and submitted for public review. Without any updates in six months, Draft will be deleted from the database.
- Proposed Standard. If the draft standard is sufficiently successful and consistent, it receives the proposed status and RFC number.
- Draft Standard. Next stage means that the standard is accepted by the community, in particular, there are two code-compatible implementations of different development teams.
- Internet Standard. The highest level allows interoperation of hardware and software from different sources, which allows the Internet to function.
Not only do standards come in the form of RFCs, but also concepts. Such as introductions to new directions in research, historical references, experimental results, technology implementation guidelines, suggestions and recommendations for developing existing standards, and other new ideas in IT.