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Iâm editing a specification, and I was merrily redlining all sorts of convoluted wording to be simple and straight-forward. But then I thought, perhaps thereâs a reason that so many specs are so awkward to read. Maybe there is some spec writing requirement, beyond the usual SHOULD, MUST NOT, etc. definitions, that in effect requires indirectness? After all, why else would so many specs be so difficult to make out?
For example, why should a spec say âin the case ofâ instead of âifâ? Why should âmoreoverâ be used so much more often than âandâ, especially when both could be omitted altogether?
