[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Declarative XML Processing with XQuery
> Thanks. Off the top, some of what I like about Foxpro > comes back with the language integrated query. I don't know FoxPro but there were a lot of 4GLs in the 1980s that integrated database access closely into the programming language. I've never been sure why they failed. For some reason the market was incredibly fragmented (no-one had more than 3%) and there were no standards. I think people wanted better programming languages than the 4GLs offered by the database vendors, and the independent 4GL vendors wanted to be database-independent; and of course the disaster called client-server became fashionable. So in the end loose coupling won the day - people moved to dynamic SQL embedded in anything (in the form of character strings passed to procedure calls), which on the surface is about as bad a design as you can get from a programming language theory point of view. So on the one hand I'm pleased to see a resurgence of interest in database programming languages, and on the other hand I'm feeling a strong sense of deja vu and wondering what lessons have been learned from the last time around. One thing I am convinced of: a good database programming language is likely to be very declarative. Michael Kay
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|