Re: [xml-dev] Why does XML call them "attributes" and not name-value pairs?

> 
> It's an attribute of a thing because we are only concerned about a diseases behavior with respect to the infected entity. 

Indeed. Whether something is an attribute or a thing depends on what we are concerned with. Similarly "address" - as soon as we start to be interested in whether two addresses are in the same street, an address ceases to be an attribute of a person and starts to be an entity in its own right.

Michael Kay
Saxonica