Under each type you start to come up with multiple entries. Standards seem to proliferate and infiltrate any aspect of human endeavor that involves any degree of complexity.
Standards have to be cared for, they have to be fed, they have to evolve or they become extinct.
Software Standards Evolved Over 30 Years Table 1 is a representative list of standards. Common school of thought has software standards evolving from the black ooze of hardware standards of the 1970s to early '80s. The revolution in knowledge that accompanied the printing press was a communication revolution. The printing press provided the means to build upon the experience of those who came before 1 . A standard is either a specialized document that captures the experience of the many for the use of those who follow, or it is a groundswell that, by virtue of inertia, establishes default experience.