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RE: The universality of "single starting point"

• From: David Lee <dlee@calldei.com>
• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>, "xml-dev@l..."<xml-dev@l...>
• Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 17:01:46 +0000

XML doesnt always start with the root element.

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/


[1]   	document	   ::=   	 prolog element Misc*

It starts with an *optional* prolog.



----------------------------------------
David A. Lee
dlee@calldei.com
http://www.xmlsh.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Costello, Roger L. [mailto:costello@mitre.org] 
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2013 11:51 AM
To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject:  The universality of "single starting point"

Hi Folks,

1. Formal grammars require that a single symbol be the starting point for all productions. For example, the starting symbol is S in this grammar:

	S -> a Q a
	Q -> ...

2. Structured programming tells us that every function should have a single entry point.

3. XML has a single starting point - the root element

Wow! I see this concept of a single starting point everywhere I look. Above I have provided three occurrences. Would you provide other occurrences please?

/Roger

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• Follow-Ups:
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    • From: Rand McRanderson <therandshow@gmail.com>
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• References:
  • The universality of "single starting point"
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>