RE: [xml-dev] XQuery articles on adtmag.com

["Dare Obasanjo" <dareo@microsoft.com>]

The XPath and XQuery data model stand as excellent concretizations of the XML Infoset that can be used as a basis for unifying the three vertices of the data triangle (relational<->object<->XML or ROX for short) which application developers have to work with on a daily basis. As Uche mentioned in his article, there are some of us that already consider this data model is the data model for XML especially strongly typed XML[0].

Recent articles in the Extreme XML column on MSDN show how the XPath data model can be used as a bridge to provide unified data access across the object<->XML[1] and relational<->XML[2] chasms. 

However unlike Jonathan I don't see XQuery providing us with a unified programming model but it may just give us a Unified Query language which in my book is much more valuable than a programming language that attempts to span all three vertices of the data triangle. 

[0] http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/19/datamodel.html
[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnexxml/html/xml03172003.asp
[2] http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnexxml/html/xml04212003.asp

-- 
PITHY WORDS OF WISDOM 
Other people's tools only work in other people's gardens.                                            

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. 

>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Champion [mailto:mc@xegesis.org] 
> Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 7:55 AM
> To: XML Dev
> 
> A couple of contrasting articles on XQuery at adtmag.org:
> 
> http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=7620
> Uche makes a distinction between two approaches, extending 
> existing languages and environments to support XML vs 
> defining a new native XML
> language:
>  
> " .NET has evolved processing tools ideal for users of 
> Microsoft's development tools. Perl 6 brings sophisticated 
> XML capabilities that take advantage of innovations in that 
> language. The same level of innovation is at work in the Java 
> and Python communities, among Flash users, as well as those 
> on embedded and wireless devices.
>  
> This diversity of XML processing systems, bound together by 
> XML 1.0 syntax, is a step in the right direction. Rather than 
> catchall SAX, DOM and even XSLT models that cut across the 
> spectrum of XML developers, XML will become a natural 
> accessory for each environment. XQuery represents a counter 
> to this trend."
> 
> Uche makes a prediction:
>  
> "XQuery omni-tool ...is complex enough that it is probably 
> not very accessible to the weekend handyman, and yet probably 
> not finely tuned enough to displace the box of professional 
> crafting tools."
> 
> In http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=7649 Jonathan seems 
> to take the position, to paraphrase heavily :-) yes, it's a 
> damn good floor wax and a very tasty dessert topping too:
> 
> '"In many development environments, people have to work with 
> relational data, XML and data found in objects. These have 
> three very different data models -- three very different ways 
> of representing and manipulating data," 
> said Robie. "For XML and relational data, XQuery allows you 
> to work in one common model, an XML-based model that can also 
> be used with XML views of relational data."'
> 
> "Native XML programming is at the heart of XQuery. XML is not 
> object oriented, nor is it relational. XQuery is portable, 
> type safe and can be optimized for database access. It is 
> ideal for queries that must represent results as XML, to 
> query XML stored inside or outside the database, or to span 
> relational and XML sources," said Robie.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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