Yes, the current IE team is extremely strong, and has only gotten smarter & stronger during the time I worked there. There's tons of meetings I've walked out of where we made a decision to do X rather than Y because "the standard says to do X" and it was the guiding principle for decision-making.
Because, sometimes, standards are wrong, purposefully allow implementation-specific choices, or are helplessly vague and everyone can't agree on the interpretation.
However, the right answer is usually to exceed the requirements of the standard in way that best benefits the consumer and meets business goals.
> But why was the non-standard way even an option?
People tend to have their own ideas on how things should be done. They should definitely be heard too. There is nothing wrong with questioning or doing things differently than current standards dictate as long as you have open, honest discussions.
Yes, the current IE team is extremely strong, and has only gotten smarter & stronger during the time I worked there. There's tons of meetings I've walked out of where we made a decision to do X rather than Y because "the standard says to do X" and it was the guiding principle for decision-making.