Re: [xml-dev] XPath 2.0 Best Practice Issue: Graceful Degradation

[David Carver <d_a_carver@yahoo.com>]

Rick Jelliffe wrote:
> One of the many troubles with XSD-style schema systems is that they 
> encourage a big bang mentality, where you have to try to make all 
> sorts of decisions about structure and type that are unnecessary or 
> which can be left to emerge, while making it difficult to add 
> constraints based on feedback from processes about what the real 
> problems might be.
Rick, I'm going to have to disagree here.  This isn't a XML Schema 
problem, it's a problem with any poorly designed data model.  This can 
happen with SchemaTron and RelaxNG as well, not just XML Schema.

You can apply agile techiniques, with continuous integration, and 
adaptability with XML Schema...I do it every day.   XML Schemas doesn't 
encourage a big bang theory, you can build in modular sections..it's 
really the approach of the designers not the schema language that 
influences how something is done.

Bad designs and big bang approaches happen in any of the schema 
languages if implemented poorly.