• To: Mukul Gandhi <gandhi.mukul@g...>
• Subject: Re: Default namespace for attributes?
• From: Martin Probst <martin@x...>
• Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:50:16 +0200
• Cc: xml-dev@l...
• In-reply-to: <7870f82e0607151005nd7094fboc43dd7ecdc9b360a@m...>
• References: <7870f82e0607151005nd7094fboc43dd7ecdc9b360a@m...>

Hi,

> The XML Namespaces Recommendation says that the default namespace
> applies only to elements, and not to attribues
> (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names/#defaulting).
>
> i.e. an unprefixed attribute name will always be in the null  
> namespace.
>
> I am curious to know why this is so?

This has a long history and debate. I think the original explanation  
was that the authors of the spec thought of attributes being like  
local variables in C++ (who don't have a namespace either) or  
something like that. Many people believe that this was a big mistake  
as it complicates both applications and the general understanding of  
namespaces without any benefit.

Regards,
Martin

• References:
  • Default namespace for attributes?
    • From: "Mukul Gandhi" <gandhi.mukul@g...>

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