Subject: Re: 2.6 patterns: let's try variations on the XML syntax From: Chris von See <cvonsee@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 20:16:06 -0500 |
>On Wed, 26 Aug 1998, Chris von See wrote: > >> If I read this correctly, the implicit assumption is that all of these >> languages need to be capable of being hand-coded by relative newbies... >> I've seen other comments in this list say that this is in fact a goal of >> XML and XSL, but I tend to disagree that we should make that a *primary* >> goal. I believe that we should not subjugate developing powerful tools to >> developing a syntax that "feels as if it belongs together". > At 04:27 PM 8/26/98 -0400, Paul Prescod wrote: >Why do you believe that these goals diverge? Usually, they do not. An >elegant design is simple enough for newbies and scales to do the powerful >things that experts want to do. The string-based query language seems >relativly simple and scalable, so we need not choose between those >(usually linked) design criteria. > I'm coming at this from a slightly different perspective... As a software developer, if someone came to me asking for a hypermedia tool that could do what XML/XSL can do, and I felt strongly that they would prefer a graphical interface for working with this tool (which I do in this case), then I would focus on making the underlying technology (i.e. XML/XSL) as powerful as possible and put all the "simplicity" in the GUIs. My past personal experience has been that there isn't necessarily a divergence between simplicity and power; however, in many cases designing things like XML/XSL to be simple enough for newbies takes up a ton of time and effort that could be better spent on designing specialized graphical interfaces that address the particular usage issues that come with the various uses of XML/XSL itself. Even in the very small time I've been on this list, I've seen a variety of perspectives on using XML/XSL, from "replace HTML" to the recent comments about EDI. These audiences all have different experiences, different thought processes, different approaches to solving problems; to make XML/XSL as "marketable" (gasp!) as it could be, I'd want to slant my development efforts toward products that meet their specific needs, but are all based on a common technology. Just two cents worth... nothing more. Chris True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance. -- Pope, "Essay on Criticism, II" XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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