Re: [xml-dev] RE: James Clark: XML versus the Web

[Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>]

>Namespaces was at least the nose of the shark.

>Schemas are bad, but ignorable.


Interestingly, namespaces and schemas are bad for very different reasons.

Namespaces are bad because they were done hastily without taking time to 
consider the consequences (or rather, without listening to the many 
people who were pointing out the consequences). They were a cheap hack, 
implemented at the wrong layer of the architecture, and without thinking 
carefully about the data model. The spec was short, informal, and 
incomplete.

Schemas are bad because they tried to do too much and to do it 
"properly". Too many people were involved and they were all allowed to 
add their favourite features. The spec was long, formal, and unreadable.

So in terms of "how to create a good standard", the lessons to be 
learned are very mixed.

Michael Kay
Saxonica