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Re: Why are XML crowds older?

• To: Jonathan Robie <jonathan.robie@d...>
• Subject: Re: Why are XML crowds older?
• From: Daniela Florescu <dflorescu@m...>
• Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 15:05:49 -0800
• Cc: xml-dev@l...
• In-reply-to: <41A4A023.7070805@d...>
• References: <41A4A023.7070805@d...>

Hi Jonathan,

Maybe the answer to your question is: because in order to accept some 
of the
... how can I put this nicely... "details" of XML and the associated 
standards
naturally, as a simple fact of life, you need the wisdom and the 
maturity of a
certain age ?? :-)

> Thinking of the people in the XML community whom I respect most, they 
> seem to be on the older side too.

However I try to interpret this comment, I cannot take it as a 
compliment :-)

Joke asside, let me tell you a short story about my experience with 
younger crowds and XML.
It was the year 2000, and I was teaching the undergrad database class 
in the Univ.
Paris I. I started with the relational model and tuples. At that point 
a girl in the first row
seemed to look confused, and the boy next to hear, trying to be helpful 
says: "it's not that
difficult, it's like XML elements, but they are just flat ! "

I was so puzzled, I couldn't speak for 2 minutes. They were trying to 
understand
the relational model by mapping it into something they KNEW already, 
which was
XML !

One possible answer is that the younger crowds are not that excited 
about this simply
because they take it as a given. Unlike us, they grew up with the 
Internet and XML. How
often do you care about the telephones technology ??? You only care 
about what you can
DO with it, not how it's built....

But I think the most serious answer to your question is the following: 
because they
cannot PROGRAM  with XML. Yes, they can do XSLT, or they can do XQuery,
and yes, both are Turing complete, but this is not an answer. I cannot 
build a full
application or a Web service in XSLT or XQuery, and there is nothing 
else out there
in the XML world to help me.

In the end of the game programmers like to program, and if they cannot 
do it, they don't get
excited.

Best regards,
Dana

• Follow-Ups:
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    • From: Don Demsak <donxml@g...>

• References:
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    • From: Jonathan Robie <jonathan.robie@d...>

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