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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: XML is boring (long --- sorry)
Peter Murray-Rust says that XML is boring because there are few
(public) applications ... I think it's even worse than that. Let me
explain ...
When I was trying to demonstrate the potential of an Intranet back in
1992, using Netscape 1.1 and CERN's httpd I was able to put together
a quite impressive webette quite quickly. Thus far I agree with
Peter, we have nothing 'sexy' to show people and, worse, precious
little for them to be able to try for themselves. Yes, we have a few
editors but without some kind of rendition there's nothing visible.
I recently gave a presentation about XML to one of the leading
technical documentation companies in The Netherlands:
- I showed them XML in Mozilla (the August build is quite stable
under NT now) and sketched some of the possibilities opened up by
transclusions (single-source online and paper documentation is
still the philosopher's stone of the tech writing world, believe
me).
- I demonstrated 'islands of data' in IE 5 (I'm still worried that on
my three-day visit to Redmond for the XML Summit --- a fascinating
event --- not a single thing was said about XLL support), important
because these people do a lot of catalog publishing and a web
browser is a perfect solution for multi-platform delivery (why
worry about Mac/Unix/PC/resolution monitor problems when a
Microsoft and Netscape have off-the-shelf answers?).
- I talked about vendor support (yes, I'm *still* waiting for Adobe
to finally fulfill their promise to release an upgrade for
Frame+SGML to support XML).
- I showed them IE4's support for structured graphics and discussed
Microsoft's committment to VML (vital for interactive docs where
hotspot maintenance is an even bigger problem than link
maintenance).
- I described Office 2000 and all the features that Microsoft say
they will implement (HTML round-tripping, HTTP server's as
folders, XML metadata)
- I showed them Chrome ('scuse me but for interactive demos, etc. it
is still *cool* even if it isn't exactly leading edge).
- I even (as far as I am able since it's still in R&D) discussed my
own implementation of XML as a data format for algorithm synthesis
model definition files in a new Synopsys product ... and how I hope
to be able to single source online presentation and printed
documentated from the same source code.
Where this is all leading to? ... a conclusion from one of the
attendees that "XML is a programming language". Now, maybe I'm
over-reacting, but I've never thought of SGML as a programming
language. I find it very hard to keep a straight face at even the
suggestion that HTML might be a programming language. Remembering
what John Bosak said at SGML Europe '98 (it's been repeated
several times since) about how we musn't be trapped into letting XML
become just a data format, the view of XML as a programming language
made me wonder if that danger might be a lot closer than we all
realize.
So. Please, I give resounding support to Peter's plea. Have a look at
XML chess or some other "sexy" application. Don't let XML become a
delivery format for (D)HTML ...
My 25 cents,
Simon North
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