Evolution of the Arden Syntax: Key Technical Issues from the Standards Development Organization Perspective

Highlights • The Arden Syntax was created as a standard formalism for explicitly representing and sharing computable clinical knowledge. • The Arden Syntax has evolved from a simple yet very useful formalism to a complex, powerful programming language. • Evolution of the Arden Syntax has been guided by its users through an international standards development organization. • Thus evolved, the Arden Syntax offers general programming language functionality with adaptation to the clinical environment.