RE: [xml-dev] What is declarative XML? (And what's not)

[B Tommie Usdin <btusdin@mulberrytech.com>]

At 7:01 PM -0400 6/2/09, Costello, Roger L. wrote:
>I want to identify those characteristics that make an XML document 
>declarative and those characteristics that make an XML document 
>passive.

This, I think, could be interesting and useful. The more we know 
about our documents, the better. It seems likely that this 
differences, like other differences, may define categories of 
documents that behave, or should be managed, differently.

At 7:01 PM -0400 6/2/09, Costello, Roger L. wrote:
>Assertion: declarativity is a quality that is good and desirable and 
>should be maximized.

I would rephrase:

Assertion: there are circumstances in which highly declarative 
documents are appropriate and valuable.

Assertion: there are circumstances in which algorithmic documents are 
appropriate and valuable.

>
>Assertion: passivity is a quality that is good and desirable and 
>should be maximized.

Assertion: there are circumstances in which passive documents are 
valuable, and in those circumstances documents should be engineered 
for maximum passivity.

Assertion: there are circumstances in which active documents are 
valuable, and in those circumstances documents should be engineered 
for maximum activity.

>
>Assertion: by measuring its declarativity and passivity we can 
>assess the goodness of an XML document.

Assertion: by locating a document (or collection of documents, or 
perhaps a document type) on both the active/passive and 
declarative/algorithmic scales we probably describe some important 
features of the documents.

>Assertion: the goodness of an XML document is a function of its 
>declarativity and passivity.

Assertion: the goodness of an XML document is a function of the 
appropriateness of its design to its intended use(s). Levels of 
declarativity and passivity may be important clues to a document's 
fitness to purpose.

-- Tommie


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B. Tommie Usdin                        mailto:btusdin@mulberrytech.com
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