Colonialism, SAX, Java, and Namespaces

[Mark Birbeck]

Simon St.Laurent wrote:
> I get the feeling that some of the writers on this list - though
> _certainly_ not all - view the 'average developer' as some kind of
> primitive creature that should be shunted aside in the name 
> of progress.

Why would anyone shunt aside 'average developers'? Where else do the
truly great developers come from, but the large pool of average
developers? However, if all we ever talk about is what can be understood
by the most number of people, then we do *not* progress. Do you really
want to keep the useful discussion about how and whether to store XML
files in a database or not to be constantly concerned with how many
people can understand and contribute? Sure, you want to be as helpful as
you can to others who are learning, but also you sometimes want to have
high-level discussions with your peers (not to say we're all 'truly
great' either - just 'above average').

> This colonialist view (I don't know what else to compare it 
> to - simple
> elitism seems inadequate) has contributed to the development 
> of a lot of
> tools that people talk about but very few people understand.

I'm not sure which colonialism you're thinking of, but the one I read
about involved dominating foreign lands, taking their cash and selling
the occupants as slaves. Next you'll be talking about holocausts -
rounding up 'average developers' and the like.

Mark Birbeck
Managing Director
Intra Extra Digital Ltd.
39 Whitfield Street
London
W1P 5RE
w: http://www.iedigital.net/
t: 0171 681 4135
e: Mark.Birbeck at iedigital.net


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