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> -----Original Message----- > From: Niels Peter Strandberg [mailto:nielspeter@n...] > Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 7:23 AM > To: xml-dev@l... > Subject: XML should NOT be a new programming language > > > Why do we use XML to validate, manipulate, transform etc. other XML > documents, fragments? Because learning one set of syntax and [some] semantics is better than learning umpteen different ones for every little thing one wants to do with XML. > I want to do my work in Java or another language, not a XML > "language" > like XSLT, XML Schema etc. The XML "languages" contains a lot > of noise > and duplicated information. Just try build a fairly large XSL > stylesheet, an it will fast be hard to read. My favorite IDE do not > support manipulating XML documents. The fact that your favorite IDE does not support manipulating XML documents is not an indictment of XML based technologies but instead is an indication that you have made a poor IDE choice if you intend to do any serious work involving XML. > We have Java, C++ etc. We have if-else, while, switch etc. We can do > classes, compile ......... We don't we use them?? Nothing stops you or anyone else for that matter from writing classes for processing XML documents and exposing these APIs independently of XML based technologies. > To me XML should be a part of my chosen programming language. No only > files on a network or filesystem. > > I want XML in Java! Why not like this: > > > Stylesheet style = { > > <XSL:STYLESHEET { > [xmlns.xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"] > [version = "1.0"] > > // Book > <XSL:TEMPLATES { > [match = "Book"] > <HTML { > <HEAD { > <TITLE { > > name.equals("") ? "Hej, > Guest!" : "Hej, " + name +"!"; > } > } > <BODY { > <CENTER { > <XSL:TEMPLATES > { [select="title"] } > } > <XSL:TEMPLATES > { [select="chapter"] } > <XSL:TEMPLATES > { [select="appendix"] } > } > } > } > } > } // stylesheet > > > I use Apples Project Builder, and the indenting works > perfectly, for the > code above! > > Niels Peter So exactly what has the above crufty non-XML syntax bought you exactly besides syntactic shortcuts that could be gained by using variables or functions to dynamically build your stylesheets? Anyway these ideas are not new and a number of languages such as YATL[0] and Xduce[1] have been developed with the express purpose of processing XML in non-XML syntax. I personally do not think that the integration of XML into programming languages is a good idea since XML technologies are currently not mature enough to do something as drastic as altering programming languages to integrate them. Also I've not yet seen a proposal for an XML integrated language that claims to support all of what I consider the important aspects of XML (infoset, namespaces, the DTD related stuff from XML 1.0, out of band info like comments & PIs). Quite frankly, almost all the things people claim they need XML integrated into a programming language for can be handled with a well designed function library instead of complicating programming languages with XML-hype-bandwagon-jumping induced cruft and complexity. [0] http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/cluet00yatl.html [1] http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/279930.html -- THINGS TO DO IF I BECOME AN EVIL OVERLORD #51 If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.
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