(Ruby does have an ISO standard but it’s weird and nobody uses it.)

jcelerier · on May 13, 2022

oh, TIL ! why wouldn't anyone use it ?

steveklabnik · on May 13, 2022

For reference: https://www.iso.org/standard/59579.html

This work happened in 2009. It was originally based on Ruby 1.8.7, the final draft was completed in 2010, and didn't cover the full standard library at the time. Took two more years to get through ISO.

If you don't have an encyclopedic remembering of Ruby version releases, when that draft was complete, the current released version of Ruby was 1.9.2. Ruby underwent huge changes between 1.8.7 and 1.9.2; many other languages would have characterized it as a major version change at the time; Ruby didn't follow semver back then.

So basically, it was already out of date well before it was final, and never was updated. So it's really irrelevant today.

Why did this even happen? Well, supposedly there are some requirements for Japan government work that require a spec, and so a spec was produced. That's my recollection, anyway.