Re: [xsl] Linus and XML

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:23 AM 12/2/2003, Peter wrote:
> I think what Linus was all het up about was the inappropriate use of xml, 
> for the example he gave xml (even if done correctly) is overkill. You want 
> to read a small configuarion file? Load up a monster xml parser just to 
> extract the eight bytes you require.
>
> I am coming to regret that I used xml to store knowledgebases for my 
> expert system, parsing the file adds a not inconsiderable startup cost to 
> the program and amounts to half the code I have to maintain. The xml file 
> itself is only 30%-40% data and the rest is xml markup.
>
> Trouble with a hammer is that everything looks like a nail - and I have 
> been using xml too much.

Exactly. I doubt that even in his "het up" state, Linus would argue against 
XML as an alternative to opaque, proprietary binary formats for complex 
documentary data ... which is to say, the main application domain for which 
markup languages were developed in the first place.

If your dataset is regular, markup languages do much less for you. A 
standard syntax is still a Good Thing, but the balance really shifts when 
weighing the tradeoffs. (And at the lower levels of an OS, classic 
arguments for platform-independence really don't wash.)

Let's get back on topic? Notice how XSLT really shines when asked to do 
things with irregular data, and in systems where a distinction is useful 
between "content" and its "format"; if the structures in the source are 
perfectly regular and there will never be any reuse or "repurposing" (awful 
word) of the data set, XSLT just seems like more angle brackets.

Cheers,
Wendell


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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