RE: [xml-dev] Declarative XML Processing with XQuery

["Michael Rys" <mrys@microsoft.com>]

Hi Martin, I think you hit the nail at 80% :-).

The problem with the non-kernel parts (I would include the typing from a
spec writing point of view, even though my experience is that from a
user's perspective in actual use it often does not surface) is that it
cost us so much time to get the spec ready that there is no big uptake
yet by the implementers.

We and several other companies ship XQuery based on some working draft.
In our case we basically ship a type-aware kernel in a specific context
(XML datatype in SQL Server 2005). There it is used quite heavily
(almost anyone that uses XML in SQL Server uses part of the XQuery
implementation). So adoption is there, but it is limited to a subset of
the kernel in limited domains and not in general programming.

And the complexity of the kernel for users is actually small, but the
time it takes to develop the spec and the imposing size and formalism of
the Formal Semantics spec do nothing to alleviate the FUD factors.

Best regards
Michael

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Martin Probst [mailto:martin@x-hive.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 9:44 AM
> To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
> Subject: RE: [xml-dev] Declarative XML Processing with XQuery
> 
> > I never took up with XQuery for a moment because I could never
perceive
> > such a right-sized kernel at its core.
> 
> Well, XPath + FLWOR + "Just-type-XML-in-your-query". In my experience,
> that's enough for 90% of the users - no user defined functions, no
> static typing or actually any typing at all, no huge function
libraries
> etc.
> 
> And that kernel is small, nice to use, and gives a really big
> improvement. It allows you to solve a huge number of all day XML
> problems in an easy way.
> 
> I'd rather think that one of the obstacles for adoption is all the
stuff
> around this kernel and the delay it caused; the complexity for
> implementers and maybe the perceived complexity for end users. Where
the
> later one is really only perceived.
> 
> Martin
> 
> 
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