Partial XML Processors (was Re: JavaScript parser update and Questions)

[Michael Kay]

Peter Murray-Rust wrote:
>One design goal (4 in spec) is that it should be "easy to write programs
>which process XML documents".  If that is interpreted that it is "easy to
>write software that processes *all* XML documents, throwing errors wherever
>one is required", then that goal is already lost. For example, James Clark
>has come up with about 140 carefully incorrect XML documents for testing
>parsers. DavidM has said that AElfred spots 80% of them, but that the other
>20% would increase AElfred's size and decrease its speed.

To be pedantic, this shows only that it is difficult to write software that
correctly processes all non-XML documents. For a great many purposes,
I don't care what the software does with a non-XML document because I
don't intend to generate such things in the first place. But I do think it
is
important that correct XML documents are processed correctly.

Mike Kay


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