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

RE: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better"

• To: "Peter Hunsberger" <peter.hunsberger@g...>, "Michael Kay" <mike@s...>
• Subject: RE: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better" ?
• From: "Nathan Young \(natyoung\)" <natyoung@c...>
• Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 10:17:01 -0700
• Cc: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>, <xml-dev@l...>
• Thread-index: AcXJzKobd65sJKrTRcKFzzHEM/3IaAAAN0nQ
• Thread-topic: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better" ?

I'm not sure how to articulate this exactly but I'm fairly certain that
when you design a representation for the data you need to model at least
partly to peoples expectations about the data.  This may in fact be tied
to "expectations" that existing applications have about this data (also
known as backwards compatibility).

To stretch a metaphor, when you talk to the vineyard foreman, you need
to find out if he contacts pickers by going to a lot and looking for
them or if he has a walkie talkie that connects him directly to each
individual.

Inclusion is another design consideration which I suppose you could
aggregate in the set of conversations about coupling.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Hunsberger [mailto:peter.hunsberger@g...] 
> Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 9:45 AM
> To: Michael Kay
> Cc: Costello, Roger L.; xml-dev@l...
> Subject: Re:  Better design: "flatter is better" or 
> "nesting is better" ?
> 
> On 10/5/05, Michael Kay <mike@s...> wrote:
> > > > 1. Persistent XML: the XML document is persistent.
> > > Applications operate
> > > > directly on the XML document.
> > > >
> > > > 2. Transient XML: upon arrival at its destination the 
> data may be
> > > > transformed into some other format (language objects,
> > > relational database,
> > > > etc) that applications work with.
> > > >
> > > > 3. Application XML: the XML document is the application.
> > > > Question:
> > >
> > > Umm, isn't that only two dimensions?  Aren't persistent 
> and transient
> > > just points on a single temporal axis? (Which brings me back to my
> > > question of when does a document change from being persistent to
> > > transient or vice versa?)  I think at best you can have a 
> single axis
> > > that measure the length of time for which the document 
> exists.  Still
> > > not sure that this helps any, but lets continue...
> >
> > I don't think it's the lifespan of the document that 
> matters, it's the
> > number of people/applications who will read it and the 
> predictability of the
> > way they will use it. Transient = 1 predictable recipient, 
> Persistent = many
> > unpredictable recipients.
> >
> 
> I like that number of recipients as a measure. It seems to be
> independent of the duration of the document so I'd prefer it if the
> terminology didn't confuse the issue.  The extent to which the
> recipients are predictable or not also seems somewhat independent
> though there certainly can be a coupling to number of recipients. I'm
> not sure what design rules fall out of considering these axis either
> together or independently?
> 
> --
> Peter Hunsberger
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an
> initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org>
> 
> The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription
> manager: <http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/index.php>
> 

• Prev by Date: RE: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better" ?
• Next by Date: using a node-set as a predicate expression
• Previous by thread: RE: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better" ?
• Next by thread: RE: Better design: "flatter is better" or "nesting is better" ?
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread