RDF Question: about syntax of rdf container objects (Bag, Alt, Seq)

[Walter Underwood]

At 04:51 AM 4/8/99 -0700, Jeffrey E. Sussna wrote:
>No. RDF defines alternative syntax for particular abstract models. You may
>use whichever syntax you like. The examples you included are equivalent.
>This is part of both the flexibility and seeming difficulty at first glance
>of RDF.

It isn't a "seeming" difficulty, it is a real problem. Two syntaxes
are much, much less useful than one. Having two or more ways to say 
the same thing (zip, jar, and cab for Java) is almost always a bad
idea. The reason given for the compressed RDF syntax, "it's smaller",
is never a good enough reason. Either use the small one, use the clear 
one, or make one that is small enough and clear enough. Specs are
the wrong place to prevaricate.

wunder



--
Walter R. Underwood
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1-408-543-6946

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