: Re: Should one use the legal "shall" in requirements documents and specification documents? At least in the US, "will" has replaced "shall" in most every context, with the notable exception of the

@Connie138

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Shall is still used in software documentation. It was a subject of discussion in my software engineering course and it's also present in field documentation.
An example can be found in the Joint Strike Fighter's C++ coding standard. In section 4.2 under Rules on page 11. It specifically defines the following:

4.2.1 Should, Will, and Shall Rules
There are three types of rules: should, will, and shall rules. Each rule contains either a “should”, “will” or a “shall” in bold letters indicating its type.

Should rules are advisory rules. They strongly suggest the recommended way of doing things.

Will rules are intended to be mandatory requirements. It is expected that they will be followed, but they do not require verification. They are limited to non-safety-critical requirements that cannot be easily verified (e.g., naming conventions).

Shall rules are mandatory requirements. They must be followed and they require verification (either automatic or manual).

So at the very least, within the last decade for government contract work, shall does have a great deal of force. I suspect it's still much the same in the private sector, though perhaps not nearly as strict in the case of projects not involving multi-billion dollar avionics.

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