forward compatible

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forward compatible - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  forward compatibility
  forward compatible
  forwards compatibility
  forwards compatible
  
     <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)