Re: [xml-dev] Formalism and complexity

From
Simon St.Laurent <>
To
XML Developers List <>
Date
2004-01-06T03:49:03Z
ID
<r02000200-1028-458A4E623FFB11D8B1470003937A08C2@[192.168.124.11]>
Thread
Re: [xml-dev] Formalism and complexity
 (Ian Graham) writes:
>Of course in the organic world, mutatations are mostly failures, and
>die off. Project managers seem to want higher probability of success
>(at least on the timeframe of the project) ;-) .

In the biological world, yes.  In the human world, not necessarily.  We
have a lot better track record than random DNA changes.

>> For the most part, though, I continue to hear "XML is an okay
>> syntax, but still we must all agree on semantics precisely for
>> anything to work", the same dispiriting story that's kept complexity
>> as a barrier to sophisticated computing.
>
>No one wants to have they app crash for lack of handling some obscure
>content model -- and I've certainly seen that happen a lot on the
>project I'm working on.  I

Then write the apps so they don't crash when fed something they don't
understand.  Responding with "I don't understand this" is a good first
step.

>We need to make sure people use the 'right' approaches for processing
>xml, so this doesn't happen. Unfortunately this is a different mindset
>for designers and developers ...

What would this "right" approach be?  The semantic straitjacket?