The electronic version of this International Standard can be downloaded from the ISO/IEC Information Technology Task Force (ITTF) web site.
ISO/IEC TR 10176:2003 provides guidelines for the preparation of Programming Language Standards.
Standards for programming languages are developed by many committees from many countries, with many different editors supporting the effort. ISO thus considered it necessary to develop guidelines so that these standards cover at least the following subjects:
Consistent terminology
Consistent structure
Syntax and semantics
Error and exception handling
Provisions of options
Presentation of source programs
Processor dependences
Binding strategies to functional standards
Conformance definition
Internationalization and support of multiple languages
Cultural convention related functionality
Use of expanded character repertoire for identifiers
User documentation
The constant additions to ISO/IEC 10646, the Universal character set, necessitate timely updates of ISO/IEC TR 10176 to allow the use of local scripts and characters in programming languages. Annex A of ISO/IEC TR 10176:2003 provides such an expanded collection of characters, recommended for use in programming languages.