Re: [xml-dev] costs of bureaucracy (was Re: [xml-dev] Not using mixedcon

[Fraser Goffin <goffinf@gmail.com>]

> Data interchange isn't going to work if it's reduced to a game of guesswork.

Hear, hear, ... And it's not just a game of syntax, think assured
semantics, non-lossy exchange, legal and regulatory requirements, et
al !

Simon you have said elsewhere that transformation is one of the
aspects of XML you like, what have you to say about semantics when
nothing can be assumed and everything is deliberately under-specified
in the name of flexibility.

Are you including data interchange in your commentary.

Fraser

On 09/04/2013, Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com> wrote:
>>
>> Conventions are fine.  Humans have used them forever.
>>
>> They used to be more flexible, though.
>
> There's a lot to be said for making the rules more flexible. The stuff that
> says on your tax form you can't use "&" or "<" in a notes field is
> laughable, especially if you're an XML geek. Those rules stem from the
> incompetence of outsourced programming.
>
> But having flexible rules isn't the same as having no rules. If I'm telling
> someone my date of birth I need to know whether they are reading it as d/m/y
> or m/d/y, otherwise we'll simply miscommunicate. Data interchange isn't
> going to work if it's reduced to a game of guesswork.
>
> Michael Kay
> Saxonica
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