[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

RE: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access" mean?

• To: "'W. E. Perry'" <wperry@f...>, XML DEV <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: RE: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access" mean?
• From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
• Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 13:35:00 -0600

From: W. E. Perry [mailto:wperry@f...]

>Let's distinguish the slugfest, or at least the grounds for it, from the
>'direct access' question. The grounds for slugfest are that threads on
>XML-DEV should not be redirected to other forums, least of all ones
>where the very premises of the thread are out of order. 

That's fair.  

>As for 'direct access', it means (as it always has since I started reading code in
>1966):  conforming exactly to brittle expectations from a priori
>agreements, so that I don't have to parse it, lex it, analyze it,
>compare it to its history, or otherwise do in computerized processing
>what the human brain has to do in handling every bit of new input it
>ever encounters. Have any of the defenders of direct access here (are
>there any?) said anything to contradict that characterization?

I'll await their replies.  Mine was to say that objectification, the 
somewhat irresistable urge to turn markup into object-oriented objects, 
has been tried, been found wanting, don't go there.  If that 
is what Bosworth is about to suggest, then we already know the why not. 
If he has ideas or examples of a programming idiom that makes it easier 
to do this work without sacrificing data portability, I'm open to that. 
If not, then nyet.  XML does make some aspects of programming harder. 
We knew that already and so does he.  As Bray says, he is a smart guy.

len

• Prev by Date: Re: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access" mean?
• Next by Date: Re: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access" mean?
• Previous by thread: RE: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access"mean?
• Next by thread: RE: Adam Bosworth Article - what does "direct access" mean?
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread