Spec says "informative" - what does that mean?

[Derek Fountain]

The DOM Level 3 specification says a few of its sections (like the Java bindings) are "informative". What exactly does that mean? I've assumed it means that the following is a suggestion and doesn't need to be implemented to the letter. Is that right?

 

[Martin Honnen]

The DOM Level 3 specification says a few of its sections (like the Java bindings) are "informative". What exactly does that mean? I've assumed it means that the following is a suggestion and doesn't need to be implemented to the letter. Is that right?

I think so, I haven't found a definition of informative in the DOM specification but for instance the document http://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG10/glossary.html which is a glossary in an unrelated W3C report says

What is identified as "normative" is required for conformance (noting that one may conform in a variety of well-defined ways to this document). What is identified as "informative" (sometimes, "non-normative") is never required for conformance.