Re: "Binary XML" proposals

["Stephen D. Williams" <sdw@lig.net>]

Danny Ayers wrote:
> 
> <- On the other hand, what I'm concentrating on is quite a bit different,
> <- although obviously they could be married.  A bsXML library would look
> <- like a collection instance that would allow in-place data members,
> <- including update, when that kind of use makes sense which saves the
> <- serialization/deser steps altogether.  No object creation, no copying,
> <- probably faster traversal, and no garbage collection.
> <-
> <- In one Java web application, a single run through the pages of the site
> <- generated over 250,000 objects that had to be created, managed, and
> <- garbage collected.  My aim is to reduce that to close to zero.
> 
> That sounds neat - though if I understand you correctly, wouldn't you have
> to have some very fast indexing/searching? what's your line, some variation
> on hashing?

Probably sorted indexes with occurance pointers similar to full-text
style indexing.  This is easier to make compact than hash tables and
bisection search is reasonably fast, especially for small indexes.  A
library could maintain a reusable hash version of the indexes if it made
sense.  The latter would be in native 'memory'.  The former integral
data organization is actually represented in the bsXML buffer format,
broken into macroblock and block chunks.

The major goals are: 

o  Binary structured organization with fast traversable indexing using a
relative handle/pointer system.

o  Modifiability in-place.

o  Doing this efficiently in flat, chunked buffers that allow both
memory and wire format to be the same, with an optional 'compress' step
that removes working 'holes'.

o  Efficient support for append or modification overlays (allows
streaming, transactions, and good handling of base/change situations
such as changes in a rulebase for a session).


If anyone wants to sponsor me at my consulting rate to complete this
fulltime as an open source project, let me know.

sdw
-- 
sdw@lig.net  http://sdw.st
Stephen D. Williams
43392 Wayside Cir,Ashburn,VA 20147-4622 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax 
Dec2000