wrote:
>> the assertion that XML fails as [...] a markup language
>> (markup shouldn't require well-formedness)
which Amy Lewis took exception to:
> *ABSOLUTELY* disagreed.
>
> Well-formedness is the thing that makes XML worthwhile.
and then went on to criticize markup minimization.
In the realm of document markup, I think that the part
of well-formedness that requires strict element inclusion
and therefore a strict hierarchy *is* limiting; we
have recently seen discussion here on overlapping trees
within a single document. While omitted tags and
other SGML minimization features are likely not worth
the cost, being able to apply markup metadata to
arbitrary ranges without having to use out-of-line
methods might help avoid extremes like the reported
every-word-is-an-element MS "WordML". (What do they
do when only *part* of a word is bold/underline/whatever?)
--
Kian-Tat Lim, , UTF-7: +Z5de+pBU-
