<jargon> The ability to accept input from later versions of itself.
Forward compatibility is harder to achieve than backward compatibility, since, in the backward case, the input format is know whereas a forward compatible system needs to cope gracefully with unknown future features. An example of future compatibility is the stipulation that a web browser should ignore HTML tags it does not recognise.
See also extensible.
(2003-06-23)
Try this search on Wikipedia, OneLook, Google
Nearby terms: forward « forward analysis « forward chaining « forward compatibility » forward compatible » forward delta » forward engineering
