[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home]
[By Thread]
[By Date]
[Recent Entries]
[Reply To This Message]
Re: It's too late to improve XML ... lessons learned?
- From: MURATA <eb2mmrt@gmail.com>
- To: "xml-dev@lists.xml.org" <xml-dev@lists.xml.org>
- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2021 23:58:07 +0900
I was a latecomer in the XML WG, but here are my two cents.
Delaying the release of XML 1.0 might have made it more complicated since there were very many requests for minor extensions.
Some features of XML (most notably XML entities) could have been removed from XML 1.0. But I do not think that entities (with the exception of internal parsed entities) have caused significant problems. Moreover, the SGML camp would have rejected XML if entities had been removed from XML.
In his Turing award lecture (1980), Tony Hoare wrote:
When any new language design project is nearing
completion, there is always a mad rush to get new
features added before standardization. The rush is mad
indeed, because it leads into a trap from which there is
no escape. A feature which is omitted can always be
added later, when its design and its implications are well
understood. A feature which is included before it is fully understood can never be removed later.
Regards, Makoto
Michael Kay wrote:
> we've learnt as a community that trying to improve XML
> doesn't work: the standard is too deeply embedded.
Yes, I can see that. On this very list there have been several attempts to improve XML and none of the attempts gained much traction.
So what is the lesson to be learned from this? How about this:
When creating a new standard, get it right in its
first version because if the standard is a success
you likely won't get a chance to improve it later on.
Is that the lesson to be learned? If so, how to ensure that you "get it right"? For instance, what could the XML Working Group have done differently to get it right? Should the XML Working Group have delayed the release of the XML standard for a year or two until a sizeable group of people had had the opportunity to work with XML and report on its warts?
/Roger
_______________________________________________________________________
XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS
to support XML implementation and development. To minimize
spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting.
[Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/
Or unsubscribe: xml-dev-unsubscribe@lists.xml.org
subscribe: xml-dev-subscribe@lists.xml.org
List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php
--
-- 慶應義塾大学政策・メディア研究科特任教授 村田 真
[Date Prev]
| [Thread Prev]
| [Thread Next]
| [Date Next]
--
[Date Index]
| [Thread Index]
|
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
RSS 2.0 |
|
Atom 0.3 |
|
|
Stylus Studio has published XML-DEV in RSS and ATOM formats,
enabling users to easily subcribe to the list from their preferred news reader application.
|
Stylus Studio Sponsored Links are added links designed to provide related and additional information to the visitors of this website.
they were not included by the author in the initial post. To view the content without the Sponsor Links please
click here.
|
|