[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Do We Need James Clark to get Good Recs?
[Didier PH Martin] Thank you, Didier, for such a a thoughtful and cogent reply. Cheers, Tom P > > I guess it all ends up in the "knowledge management" courtyard. Like you > said, a good spec has to be simple to be accepted by the neophytes. It's > only when a domain is well understood that a spec could be made simple > enough for mass consumption (I mean here, developers :-). Since you are > also part of DSSSL history, what I'll say will be only a reminder for > you. So, this is for the others wanting to understand... > > Now, a little bit about history. We tend to forget that before XSLT we > got a lot of experimentations and learning occurring with DSSSL. DSSSL > was based on the premise that it should be able to transform Groves. So > to speak, if an Excel document stored in a proprietary format could be > transformed into a grove, then it could be transformed into another > grove like for instance, an XML based structure or into standard > formatting objects. However, this part of the spec never took off > because, no freely accessible grove engines were available and Jade > didn't supported external grove nor was it supporting the transformation > part of DSSSL. Bottom line, we never experimented what manipulating > generic grove would be with a standard language. But, James added a nice > feature allowing us to create our own formatting object, for instance, > SGML element, attributes, etc... People using Jade started to use that > feature to perform transformation from one SGML structure to another. > Some consultant needed an SGML instance to be transformed into different > formats and then we got a MIF backend (FrameMaker), a TeX backend. All > these people got a forum with the Mulberry mailing list (i.e. the DSSSL > mailing list still existing today). > > There we go; we got the right environment for learning: > > a) a freely available implementation (and free $$) > b) a small group of users and a community allowing them to share (the > DSSSL mailing list + the consultant using it and expending it) > b) Somebody learning from this interaction and synthesizing this > knowledge. > > Then we got a version 2 with XSLT, it was, in fact, the result of > several years or experimentation and feedback. DSSSL was version 1.0 and > XSLT the 2.0 version. The rules were replaced by templates and the > matching mechanism simplified. These things were present in DSSSL but > simply expressed in more complex ways. And the DSSSL SGML backend > provided the right environment to learn about the template mechanism. > > I guess that what is happening right now with some specs is that we are > in the middle of the experimentation process and these people are > learning. If these groups have a high turnover, then these groups can > hardly learn since this knowledge evades when some key people are > quitting the group. > > All in all, this is knowledge management process. > a) Create a thesis, build a prototype > b) Get people to use you prototype and get feedback > c) Correct the thesis and the prototype on the basis of the feedback you > got. > > If you can reduce the time for each cycle (from a to c) then you are > learning at a faster pace. This is why some said "fail early, fail > often" they simply meant accelerate the learning cycle by reducing the > time take at each stage. > > > So, even if James is very very talented, we shouldn't forget the > history. This could at least prevent us to repeat the errors of the past > or to understand that we human have some ways to learn when we explore > unknown territories. As SGML/XMLers, do we? > > So, to answer to the first question: It is only when an group has found > ways to learn (as some scientific communities) that it can improve its > knowledge. Science taught us that a good way is to get at least two > kinds of individuals in a group: Experimenters and theorists. Obviously > the experimenters help to invalidate the theories or simply to grab new > data to be explained by theorists. In a world like XML, we need > implementations that people can play with (experimenters) and people > writing specs (theorists) if the theorists do not pay attention to the > experimenters, the feedback loop is broken and the group stops learning. > If the experimenters do not have an incarnation of the theories (a > concrete implementation) then again, the feedback loop is broken. If the > experimenters need to buy the implementation, then the loop may either > be broken or lengthened. > > My 0.02 Euro, 0.02 CAN$ and 0.02USD (the advantages of being > multi-cultural :-) > > Cheers > Didier PH Martin > http://www.didier-martin.com > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > 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://lists.xml.org/ob/adm.pl> > >
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