RE: [xml-dev] RE: Proposal: a building block approach to XML design

["Len Bullard" <Len.Bullard@ses-i.com>]

The server could be returning code chunks, not data.  Could be
pre-compiled objects, could be chunkojavascript.  Not a new notion but
it is virus-a-go-go.

There are two problems:

1.  How to automagically analyze the user/requestor's wants/needs.
2.  How to dynamically assemble code that returns that in a way which
provably satisfies the request and which can be executed by user
resources.

There are reasons for the web design settling around the REST minima.
HATEOAS does not necessarily specify what is in the message, just that
links fire messages that are always one way even if preassembled by the
human clicking on the URL or the code sending the URI.   Thus
negotiation, MIME, etc.  You could create a plethora of MIME legoTypes
but that only gets you through item 2 unless the requestor send you a
catalog with instructions.

No free lunch.  HTML is what it is because of the 80/20 rule in an open
and highly dangerous environment.

len


From: David Lee [mailto:dlee@calldei.com] 

Perhaps in time it could be done.   In the physical world this slowly
happened as people started standardizing on 
things like screw sizes, chipsets, dimensional lumber ..  But it has
taken a long long time for this to happen.
Maybe it can happen in software ?