XML Schemas is Cool

["Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>]

Hi Folks,

Yesterday I heard someone remark:

     If you show 10 people a sentence in a newspaper
     you will get 10 different interpretations of the sentence.

This subjectivity, this inability to agree on anything, this lack of truth and clarity -- it's so squishy.

In the last six months I have gotten interested in mathematics. I never really enjoyed math in school, but now my eyes are open and I see its great beauty. With a few simple axioms and rules, I can create new indisputable truths. No squishiness, no ambiguity.

XML Schemas is similar to math. With a few axioms (i.e., element declarations, attribute declarations, sequences, choices, types) I can create new indisputable definitions of validity. No squishiness, no ambiguity. 

Despite its flaws (verboseness, complicatedness), XML Schemas takes us to the land of objectivity, clarity, and indisputable truths. That's cool. 

I am really excited about XML Schema 1.1. It provides new capabilities for expressing indisputable truths concerning validity.

      validity

Validity. What a simple, powerful, and important concept. 

Wow!

/Roger