Is XML getting too hard? (was: Re: More on Namespaces...)

[Lisa Rein]

well said.  I think it's also very important to project to the public
that any syntaxes calling themselves "XML-based" that don't comply with
the XML 1.0 spec ARE NOT XML and should be disregarded, and certainly
not implemented.  It's our only hope at preserving interoperability.

But you all know this :-)

lisa

David Megginson wrote:
> 
> Simon St.Laurent writes:
> 
>  > Still, could somebody slow this stuff down so that XML can have a
>  > tiny chance to grow?  We're not even at the first round of browser
>  > implementations and already it looks like XML is attempting
>  > self-immolation at the shrine of complexity.  The specs are doing
>  > too many things in too many places.
> 
> This is progress: it took SGML over a decade to get this complicated.
> 
> More seriously, if (as -- I think -- Tim Bray has suggested), XML is
> the new ASCII, then it is perfectly acceptable for people to
> standardise special uses of it.  ASCII is not more complicated because
> C++ programs can be written using it, nor does the complexity of the
> ANSI C++ spec make ASCII any harder.
> 
> What frightens me is the danger that some people might forget about
> layering and try to overload the XML core.  XML 1.0 has some warts,
> but in general, it's beautifully simple.  I have no objection to
> seeing RDF, DCD, Namespaces, etc. built *on top of* XML, but I don't
> want to see them built *into* XML -- imagine if every program that
> worked with ASCII had to be able to parse C++ as well, or if every IP
> router had to know about HTTP!
> 
> In other words, don't fight the new standards -- they will live or die
> on their own (the market will probably kill about 80 per cent of them
> fairly quickly: even the power of Microsoft couldn't save CDF) -- but
> stand ready to bar the door if any of them gets too close.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> David
> 
> --
> David Megginson                 david at megginson.com
>            http://www.megginson.com/
> 
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