Subject: RE: Is DSSSL-O dead? From: "Reynolds, Gregg" <greynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 11:51:14 -0600 |
Bravo, Frank. The problem of DSSSL has always been the lack of good clear prose, not the alleged difficulty of the language itself. I personally have never been able to fathom the "we need to simplify DSSSL" argument; in fact DSSSL, like scheme, is a model of simplicity and clarity. The subject matter it addresses may be complex, but DSSSL goes a long way to alleviate the complexity; "simplifying" DSSSL will not simplify the problem domain. On the other hand, "we need to improve the way DSSSL is presented and taught" is a no-brainer. It is indeed quite hard to learn just from the standard text and scattered samples on the net; but once you've learned it you'll never want to go back. One cavil: I think Jade (with emacs) is very well suited for experimentation, but it needs to be packaged appropriately with the right supporting materials (I'm working on it). As for the DTD issue, I urge you to reconsider. To me the SDQL side of DSSSL is of equal if not greater importance than the style side; for this the DTD is essential. I've also never understood why the DTD is a problem.) This is an indirect way of stressing that SGML is the foundation of the whole thing. For pedagogical purposes (with to SDQL), I should think the ability to invent ad hoc document grammars and experiment with conforming instances would be very useful; it certainly is for me in my DSSSL explorations. FWIW, I'm trying to follow Mies' advice "don't talk, build"; so sometime Real Soon Now I hope to finish some basic intros into various DSSSL subjects that I work on when I find the odd hour. Would you consider throwing together a memo based on what you found in your course for contribution to the DSSSL doco project? > -----Original Message----- > From: Frank Boumphrey [SMTP:bckman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] > ... > DSSSL is an incredibly powerful language, in fact all the other > languages evince a "I want to be like Mike" attitude (for non US > readers > this refers to a Nike Ad starring Michael Jordan), and I for one would > hate > to see it relegated again to the marginalia of document authoring. > > It strikes me that all the perceived problems are eminently > "fixable" > DSSSList info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dssslist
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