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Re: RE: The XML abstraction leaks

• From: Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@gmail.com>
• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
• Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:35:51 -0700

> Do you agree with that? If not, would you provide your definition of what it
> means for the XML abstraction to leak please?


No, XML is not an abstraction -- it is actually *the opposite* of abstraction.

We can regard XML as one possible *serialization* representation of
such an abstraction as the XDM, or the XML Infoset, or ...


Cheers,
Dimitre

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 1:50 PM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:
> Thank you David and Michael. I would like to follow up please.
>
>
>
> I really am fascinated by the topic of abstractions and leaky abstractions.
> I hope that lots of people will pitch in with their thoughts and opinions on
> this topic.
>
>
>
> 1. What is “the XML abstraction”? I said that it is this:
>
>
>
> An XML document contains data and the data
>                is surrounded (delimited) by markers. More
>                concretely, an XML document contains pairs
>                of start-tags and end-tags, sandwiched between
>                them is character data and possibly other
>                start-tag, end-tag pairs.
>
>
>
> Do you agree that that is the XML abstraction? If not, would you provide
> your definition of “the XML abstraction” please?
>
>
>
> 2. What is a “leaky abstraction”? From reading  Joel Spolsky’s article as
> well as Peter Seibel’s description [1] I have arrived at this definition:
>
>
>
>                The XML abstraction leaks when users must
>                understand to some extent how software that
>                implements the XML abstraction—the XML
>                processor—works internally.
>
>
>
> Do you agree with that? If not, would you provide your definition of what it
> means for the XML abstraction to leak please?
>
>
>
> 3. Would you identify a leak in the XML abstraction please?
>
>
>
> /Roger
>
>
>
> [1] Peter Seibel has a wonderful discussion of leaky abstractions in his
> book, Practical Common Lisp. He gives an awesome example of a user-defined
> function (abstraction) that leaks.
>
>



-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
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Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
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To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
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Never fight an inanimate object
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To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the
biggest mistake of all
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Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
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You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play
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To achieve the impossible dream, try going to sleep.
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write all patents, too? :)
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Sanity is madness put to good use.
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I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.

• References:
  • The XML abstraction leaks
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
  • RE: The XML abstraction leaks
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>