-Some mistakenly presume that Multiformats promote an explosion of encoding -formats, which harm interoperability due to forcing implementers to have to -implement many different formats. To the contrary, Multiformats exist because -there are multiple choices in the world today when it comes to things like base -encoding functions, cryptographic hashing functions, and cryptographic key -formats. The creation and use of Multiformats acknowledge that application -developers make different choices based upon different requirements. Imposing a -single base-encoding, cryptographic hashing, or cryptographic key format on the -world has never worked. Instead, Multiformats provide a mechanism to detect any -base encoding, cryptographic hash, or cryptographic key format. +The Multiformats specifications exist because application developers +appropriately choose different base-encoding functions, cryptographic +hashing functions, and cryptographic key formats, among other things, +based on different use cases and their requirements. No single +base-encoding function, cryptographic hashing function, or cryptographic +key format in the world has ever satisfied all requirement sets. +Multiformats provides an alternative means by which to encode and/or +detect any base-encoding, cryptographic hash, or cryptographic key +format in self-documenting data and documents.
-When possible, specification authors are urged to, ideally, pick a single -Multiformat and, if that is not possible, minimize the number of Multiformats -any particular application or ecosystem uses to increase interoperability. +To increase interoperability, specification authors are urged to minimize +the number of Multiformats — optimally, choosing only one — to +be used for any particular application or ecosystem.