Failure Criteria: Simple XML Event-Based API for Java

[David Megginson]

Peter Murray-Rust writes:

 > Yes.  Let's please get this bus into the air. If it needs tweaking
 > or junking later, it's not the end of the world :-). I couldn't
 > bear it if we go down the same road as we have done 2-3 times
 > before, drawing out the process and finally running out of steam.

Any project should have measurable failure criteria.  Here are my
suggestions.

The Simple XML Event-Based API initiative will have failed if either
of the following is true:

1) By Monday 12 January 1998, at least three Java parser writers have
   not agreed to support a specific set of common interfaces.

2) By Monday 12 January 1998, at least three Java applet or
   application authors have not agreed to use the same set of common
   interfaces that the parser writers have agreed to support.

In other words, we need at least one other parser writer on board
besides Tim and me (a duopoly is almost as bad as a monopoly), and at
least two other applet/application writers besides Peter.  If we don't
have that agreement, and a working beta interface, by 12 January, I
won't want to spend any more of my time on this issue (I have other
projects that I'd like to pursue).


DOM
---
Another interesting question is the DOM.  I have not taken the time
yet to see if this interface provides enough information to construct
the most basic DOM nodes -- if it does (or at least, can), then we
could have a single DOM module maintained separately (using the common
event interface) instead of requiring each parser writer to create a
separate one.  A separate DOM module with its own maintainer would be
much more likely to stay up to date and robust.


All the best,


David

-- 
David Megginson                 ak117 at freenet.carleton.ca
Microstar Software Ltd.         dmeggins at microstar.com
      http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/dmeggins/

xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev at ic.ac.uk
Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/
To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo at ic.ac.uk the following message;
(un)subscribe xml-dev
To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo at ic.ac.uk the following message;
subscribe xml-dev-digest
List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa at ic.ac.uk)