How do I contribute to Awesome Standards?

You can contribute by submitting a pull request on GitHub with new standard links or corrections. The repository is community-maintained, and contributions are encouraged to keep the list current, as noted in the 'PRs welcome' badge.

Is Awesome Standards better than other standards directories like IETF RFC index?

Awesome Standards offers a broader, cross-domain scope compared to single-source portals like IETF, but it lacks the official depth and interactive features of dedicated standards websites, making it better for discovery than in-depth research.

How can I find a specific standard quickly in Awesome Standards?

Use the table of contents in the README to navigate by category, or perform a text search directly in the GitHub repository, but note there's no built-in search functionality, which can slow down retrieval.

Does Awesome Standards include deprecated or historical standards?

It primarily links to current specifications, but some entries might include historical docs; however, it doesn't explicitly mark deprecated standards, so users should verify currency with official sources.

How to use Awesome Standards for designing a REST API?

Refer to the APIs section for standards like OpenAPI, JSON:API, and REST guidelines from Google or Microsoft, but be aware that it only provides links without implementation advice or best practices.

What are the most popular or frequently updated standards in Awesome Standards?

Standards like ECMAScript proposals or Ethereum EIPs are often updated; the list aims to stay current through contributions, but there's no built-in tracking of update frequency or popularity metrics.

Open-Awesome

Standards

CC0-1.0

A curated list of technical standards, specifications, and proposals across web technologies, APIs, programming languages, and more.

Visit Website GitHub

218 stars9 forks0 contributors

What is Standards?

Awesome Standards is a curated GitHub repository listing technical standards, specifications, and proposals across various domains like web technologies, APIs, programming languages, and decentralized systems. It aggregates links to official documentation from bodies like IETF, W3C, ECMA, and others, solving the problem of fragmented standard references by providing a single, organized resource.

Target Audience

Developers, software architects, technical writers, and standardization enthusiasts who need reliable references to protocols, language specs, or API definitions for building compliant and interoperable software.

Value Proposition

Developers choose Awesome Standards because it saves time searching for authoritative spec sources, offers broad coverage across tech stacks, and is maintained by the community to ensure relevance. Its structured categorization makes it easier to discover standards than scattered web searches.

Overview

A curated list of technical standards, they may be called requests for comments, proposals, drafts, notes, specifications, or something else

Use Cases

Best For

Finding the official specification for a protocol like HTTP or GraphQL
Researching language evolution proposals (e.g., ECMAScript, Python PEPs)
Understanding API design standards (OpenAPI, JSON-RPC, REST guidelines)
Exploring blockchain and decentralized system specs (EIPs, BIPs)
Referencing security and cryptography standards (NIST, FIPS, OWASP)
Looking up regional or industry-specific standards (ISO, ANSI, JIS)

Not Ideal For

Developers seeking implementation tutorials or code examples, as it only lists official spec links without practical guidance.
Organizations needing integrated, searchable databases with version tracking and compliance tools for standards management.
Teams looking for curated, opinionated recommendations on which standards to adopt for specific use cases, rather than a neutral directory.
Users who require real-time updates or alerts for standard changes, since updates depend on community pull requests and may lag behind.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Comprehensive Coverage

Includes standards from diverse domains like web technologies, APIs, and decentralized systems, evidenced by categories in the README such as 'Web Technologies' and 'Cybersecurity and Cryptography'.

Well-Organized Structure

Standards are categorized by domain for easy navigation, as shown in the detailed 'Contents' section with clear headings from 'Web Technologies' to 'Region Specific'.

Community-Powered Updates

Accepts contributions via pull requests, ensuring the list stays current with evolving technologies, mentioned in the 'Community-Driven' feature and supported by GitHub badges.

Global and Regional Inclusivity

Features both international standards (ISO, IEC) and region-specific ones (JIS, GOST, GB), highlighted in the 'Global Scope' and 'Region Specific' sections of the README.

Cons

Static Link Repository

Lacks interactive features like search or filtering; it's essentially a markdown file with links, which can be cumbersome for large-scale exploration without built-in tools.

Dependency on Community Curation

Quality and timeliness rely on volunteer contributions, potentially leading to outdated links or incomplete coverage if not actively maintained, as admitted in the community-driven approach.

No Context or Summaries

Provides only links to external specifications without explanations or comparisons, making it less useful for beginners or those needing quick overviews beyond raw documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Projects

Awesome

😎 Awesome lists about all kinds of interesting topics

Stars471,554

Forks35,233

Last commit26 days ago

Self Hosted

A list of Free Software network services and web applications which can be hosted on your own servers

Stars296,312

Forks13,773

Last commit2 days ago

Free for Developers

A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev

Stars122,803

Forks12,891