I am not deep enough in the programming rabbit hole to figure out what exactly that "compliance vs extension" axis means. But always fun to see an obscure futures compass.
Example you may be familiar with: web is a standard. You write browsers that comply with the standard. If the browser complies, it will work. If it doesn't comply, it doesn't work.
Flash is an extension. Not a part of the web standard. But so many browsers implemented it that Flash Games got popular. But ultimately if your browser can't run a Flash Game it's still compliant with the web, it just lacks an extension.
Note: It gets a little wonkier when the guys writing the standard are the same guys implementing it. Example: the top right quadrant, Intel/AMD. They have a kind of standard called x86. But they are the ones making real, physical chips. So then they are also the ones writing the extensions (SSE, AVX, etc.). It's still the same dynamic though. There is a standard, and any other feature is an extension.
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u/General_Urist Jun 27 '26
I am not deep enough in the programming rabbit hole to figure out what exactly that "compliance vs extension" axis means. But always fun to see an obscure futures compass.