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Re: Generality of HTTP

• To: The Deviants <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: Re: Generality of HTTP
• From: Paul Prescod <paul@p...>
• Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 06:07:06 -0800
• References: <Pine.NEB.4.33.0201231729420.11412-100000@l...> <3C4EF525.826DF26B@p...> <E16TTFt-0004gx-00@s...>

Gavin Thomas Nicol wrote:
> 
> On Wednesday 23 January 2002 12:38 pm, Paul Prescod wrote:
> > It makes more sense to design for the mainstream and have the
> > outliers adapt for special cases than to do the opposite.
> 
> If this were true, the WWW would not exist.  For that matter, AC
> electricity wouldn't be popular either.... and you'd have a DC
> powerplant in your back yard.

I have no idea what you are talking about. The Web was designed for the
mainstream of its proposed user base. And I'm sure the same is true for
AC power. What is the alternative? To micro-optimize in advance for
every conceivable use case? To design for the hardest problems no matter
what the cost in usability or popularity?

> This rationale has been the cause of all kinds of grief in the WWW.
> Do you know why the DOM NodeLists are live? Exactly this kind of
> thinking. 'nuf said, I think.

Live DOM nodelists are a problem for all sorts of mainstream users.
Let's say one design mistake was made in the name of aiming for the
common case. I could cite a billion cases of problems caused doing
otherwise, but I'll just mention xanada.

> There are a lot of situations where SOAP over HTTP is fine. It's not a
> panacea though, and REST assured, REST isn't perfect for everything
> either.

I don't think anyone has claimed otherwise. You're whacking at a straw
man.

 Paul Prescod

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Generality of HTTP
    • From: Gavin Thomas Nicol <gtn@r...>
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    • From: Mike Champion <mc@x...>

• References:
  • Re: Generality of HTTP
    • From: Al Snell <alaric@a...>
  • Re: Generality of HTTP
    • From: Paul Prescod <paul@p...>
  • Re: Generality of HTTP
    • From: Gavin Thomas Nicol <gtn@r...>

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