rfc-6648

Deprecating the "X-" Prefix and Similar Constructs in Application Protocols

P. Saint-Andre, D. Crocker, M. Nottingham
date2012-06 streamIETF areaart wgappsawg statusBEST CURRENT PRACTICE pages13 canonicalhttps://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6648 doi10.17487/RFC6648
Historically, designers and implementers of application protocols have often distinguished between standardized and unstandardized parameters by prefixing the names of unstandardized parameters with the string "X-" or similar constructs. In practice, that convention causes more problems than it solves. Therefore, this document deprecates the convention for newly defined parameters with textual (as opposed to numerical) names in application protocols. This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.

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