At 2011-08-08 03:25 +0200, Dirk wrote:
why not just access a tag named <media:group> with "media:group"?
To prevent wars between competing factions regarding who "owns" the
prefix "media:".
The namespace redirection associates an arbitrary prefix with a URI
string that *can* be owned. There are already globally-managed URI schemes.
To keep XML compatible with SGML at a time when it was very important
to be compatible with SGML, using a URI naming scheme direction
wasn't possible. The redirection scheme that was decided is possible
to use with minimal impact (reserving the use of the colon in a name).
Naming things on a global scale isn't straightforward. I think
namespaces are good (though I know many people don't like
them). That some people don't find them "easy" doesn't mean they are
evil. They solve an important problem. Your offhand proposal does not.
No doubt your post will restart the namespace permathread, but I felt
compelled to spell out the naissance of namespaces. It wasn't
frivolous as your post implied.
I hope this helps.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Ken
--
Contact us for world-wide XML consulting & instructor-led training
Crane Softwrights Ltd. http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/s/
G. Ken Holman mailto:gkholman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Legal business disclaimers: http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/legal