[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: When To Use Schemas (Was RE: infinite depth to namespaces)
At 09:26 AM 09/03/2001 +1000, Marcus Carr wrote: >...Given the question though (I'm designing my own simple XML >vocabulary, but I don't understand either DTDs or XML Schema. What can I >do?), I don't think that validation necessarily even enters the >equation. A DTD is a very useful aid to designing and maintaining an XML >vocabulary, regardless of whether it is subsequently used for >validation. Perhaps John should have asked himself a slightly different >question...:-) :) In my own defense, what I was really going on about there wasn't validation per se, the general usefulness of DTDs/schemata, and so on. It was the relentless focus on them -- as though it's impossible to do anything at all useful without them. ("The focus on DTDs and XML Schema as the hallmark of so-called real XML has done more to damage XML's widespread use and popularity [etc.]...") They're extremely useful tools once you've got the basics nailed down, but can be a stumbling block en route to that point. Not wanting to drift off into pedagogical theory or anything, but it's generally a question of deductive vs. inductive learning. Teach someone well-formed first, and teaching them valid later will be a piece of cake (especially when they ask the question themselves: "How do I assert that structure/datatype X is *required*?"). Make them learn valid first and you'll postpone their doing *anything*. It's like forcing them to attend the first half-dozen sessions of a course in Java or C++ before showing them the "Hello world!" exercise. Mostly I just wanted a question that would trigger some righteous indignation in me... even if the hypothetical newbie didn't get her actual question answered in the process! ======================================================================= John E. Simpson | "I saw a sign: 'Rest Area 25 Miles'. That's http://www.flixml.org | pretty big. Some people must be really tired." XML Q&A: www.xml.com | (Steven Wright)
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