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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Names and locations (WAS: Why REST?)
 John Cowan wrote, > But labeling me and my home page with the *same* URI leads to > contradictions. For example, the year of creation of my home page > is 1998 or thereabouts, whereas *my* year of creation is 1958 or > thereabouts. Only if you insist that these URIs (in this case URLs) must function as names. But they don't, at least not necessarily. URLs can (and IMO should primarily) function as descriptions predicated on a location in web- space ... that's why we've traditionally, if controversially, made a sharp distinction between Universal Resource *Locators* and Universal Resource *Names*. Treating http://www.ccil.org/~cowan as a name leads to contradiction, as you say, because it implies that you and your home page are one and the same thing. But treating it as a description by way of a location is just fine: all that implies is that, in web terms, you and your home page are in the same place right now. Of course if you take the "location" and "space" metaphor too seriously you're likely to find this superimposition a bit spooky ... the medium sized dry goods we deal with most of the time tend to elbow each other out of the way. But web "space" is only a metaphor, and all metaphors break down when pushed beyond their domain of applicability. Here's a few fairly obvious examples of things that this approach allows us to say easily and coherently. We can say that John Cowan and his home page are at the same location, as above; we can say that either or both have moved to http://www.cowan.org/; we can say that the home page has gone, and a GET on that URL will return some other resource; we can say that the home page (that very same page) is mirrored in multiple locations. These all depend on an at least rough and ready distinction between a resource and a potentially ambiguous means of referring to it, a distinction between identity and *identification*. I think that's an important distinction to hang on to, even tho' it's very hard to pin down exactly what it is. I happily concede that names are vulnerable to ambiguity in some contexts, and that descriptions can identify uniquely in some contexts. I also happily concede that whether something is a name or is a description is often subtly context dependent. But none of these considerations strike me as providing sufficient grounds for collapsing the distinction. It's tough dealing with ambiguity and context dependence, but the problems can't be made to go away be defining them out of existence. The Semantic Web, be it hubris or the next big thing, will be mired in it ... but so will everything else, so we'd better just get used to the idea and either tackle it head on or develop strategies for routing around. Cheers, Miles -- Miles Sabin InterX Internet Systems Architect 27 Great West Road +44 (0)20 8817 4030 Middx, TW8 9AS, UK msabin@i... http://www.interx.com/ This message is intended only for the use of the person(s) (the "intended recipient (s)") to whom it is addressed. It may contain information which is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender as soon as possible. The views expressed in this communication may not necessarily be the views of InterX plc. Any copyright in this message shall remain vested in InterX plc © and the intended recipient may only copy the same for internal business purposes or as otherwise stated in this message. ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________ 
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