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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: What Clean Specs Achieve
 Simon St.Laurent wrote: > At 05:53 PM 2/6/99 +0000, Mark Birbeck wrote: > >Hands up, who has read the Java spec (and that's not the > same as reading > >the nice clear instructions given to you by the people who wrote the > >compiler)? > > But is anyone here trying to _implement_ Java? Lots of folks here are > indeed trying to _implement_ XML 1.0 (parsers and SAX), XLink > and XPointer, > Namespaces, XSL, etc. It's not like we're only trying to > _use_ them, as is > the case with Java (or SQL, another example that's been > bounced around.) And that's the point! If you want to write a Java compiler then get down with all the specs, as well as current theory on compiler writing, grammars, languages, OO, and so on - because you're going to need it! And if you want to write an XML parser, or XSL transformer, or your own DOM then sure, get with the nitty-gritty of the specifications, but you better also get clued up on language theory - I've seen Umberto Eco quoted in some places! - meta-information, mark-up languages, and all the rest of it. But don't tell me that someone using Office 2000 to write a letter to their bank manager needs to understand namespaces. And that is not elitist, colonialist or patronising - I credit people with more intelligence than wanting to understand quantum physics before they switch the TV on. The truth is that if people want to be at the leading edge of thought in *any* discipline, then they better get used to the idea that nothing worth understanding is ever easy. If it was, it would be 'common sense' and therefore nothing new. If someone really wants to write their own parser and they are having trouble understanding namespaces, they should seriously ask if they are ready for such an undertaking. As I keep saying, I'm not arguing for specs that are *more* difficult to understand - it's not exactly the most profound utterance to say 'clearer is better'. But at the same time I personally don't immediately try to blame someone else if I don't understand something, and I particularly don't think anyone *owes* me anything. If the spec writers are good enough to spare some time and answer some of my questions I am very grateful, but it is *not* their obligation. The reality is that I have already saved hundreds of hours of work for our company by using XML. The hours and hours I spent last year, reading and re-reading, trying to understand the implications of it all, have been recovered many, many times over by the speed with which we are now able to develop web sites with our new tools. I think I have more than had my money's worth from the 'gobbledy-gook' the spec writers have produced, and my suspicion is that many people out there have too. 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@i... xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@i... Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1 To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; (un)subscribe xml-dev To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; subscribe xml-dev-digest List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...) 
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