[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

RE: Syntax and semantics

• From: "David Galbraith" <david@m...>
• To: <xml-dev@x...>
• Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 12:13:26 -0700

> Tim Berners-Lee wrote:
>
> > In a distributed system, the semantics must be carried by the message.
>
> W. E. Perry wrote:
>
> No. Content is carried by the message, expressed in the agreed
> syntax. The only case in which a message may be said to carry semantics is
where there is
> agreement (if only implicitly) beforehand that particular
> syntactic constructs shall be treated as conveying particular (agreed and
fixed)
> semantics.

Historically, EDI trading partners have had to sit down and agree message
implementations before they can exchange messages and extract meaning, even
when there is an agreed standard to map to in the middle.

On the Internet ad hoc relationships will be set up to exchange messages,
sitting down beforehand is not an option. It is this that requires that the
semantics be carried by the message. This doesn't mean that it is easy,
however. Either everyone has to speak the same language or an interpreter in
the middle has to speak all languages.

DG
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Galbraith - Chief Architect
Moreover.com - the webfeed company
david@m...
415-577-8828 (US)
0777-565-8880 (UK)
favorite webfeed:
http://www.moreover.com/xml









***************************************************************************
This is xml-dev, the mailing list for XML developers.
To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo@x...&BODY=unsubscribe%20xml-dev
List archives are available at http://xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
***************************************************************************

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Syntax and semantics
    • From: "Dave Winer" <dave@u...>

• References:
  • Re: Syntax and semantics
    • From: "W. E. Perry" <wperry@f...>

• Prev by Date: Re: Parse Error Not Thrown When Expected
• Next by Date: Re: Syntax and semantics
• Previous by thread: Re: Syntax and semantics
• Next by thread: Re: Syntax and semantics
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread