Are Test Suites required by the W3C Process?
As part of the transition from Candidate Recommendation to Proposed Recommendation, the W3C Process Document requires that the Working Group demonstrates that: […] each feature of the technical report has been implemented. Preferably, the Working Group SHOULD be able to demonstrate two interoperable implementations of each feature. In most cases, the most practical way to demonstrate both that all the features were implemented, and that they are implemented in an interoperable fashion, is to to show that there are test cases that cover most of the features of the specification, and that for each of these test cases, there are at least two implementations that pass it. So, while the Process Document leaves some leeway (which is useful since not all specifcations can make use of a test suite), if a Working Group is developing a technology that can be tested in a sensible fashion, the W3C Director is likely to require a test suite before allowing to move to Proposed Recommendation.
