Re: [xml-dev] The Allure of Gothic Markup

["Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>]

I mostly like Roger's concrete simplification of what I'm discussing. 
There is one place - which Jeremy also noted - where the contrasts 
aren't quite contrast:

 > 	- scalable is good
 > 	- individuality is good

Some of the challenge comes from how we look at scale.  We tend to think 
of it as something that only works well on identical widgets with 
identical interfaces.

I suspect - though cannot prove - that scale is actually more about how 
we direct information processing than about forcing everything to be 
identical.  Processing things with massively parallel systems doesn't 
necessary mean that all the systems have to follow the same straight 
lines.  (I know that's geometrically messy.)

Right now, our models for massively parallel are relatively simple 
applications that have massive numbers of users.  That's the obvious 
place to start.  As I watch the costs of these systems drop, though, I 
think we're going to see many more models emerge.  That's a forecast, 
not a guarantee, but I definitely see opportunities there.

I'm also curious about how the spread of not only NoSQL but infinitely 
flexible tools like Git and GitHub change the way we view these kinds of 
processing.  I suspect much more concrete papers than mine will be 
talking about the benefits of less regimented systems.

Lastly, I'm not sure that "individuality" is the right word.  It's more 
like variation, leaving the door open rather than telling everyone they 
much create their own magic vocabulary from scratch.  I may just be a 
little too sensitive to the Howard Roarks of the world, however, and 
still wish that XLink or something similar had at least given us a way 
to discuss more complicated hypertext possibilities.

Thanks!  This is great conversation, pretty much exactly where I hoped 
to point.

Thanks,
Simon


On 8/18/13 6:38 PM, Costello, Roger L. wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Simon's paper invites us to challenge our commonly held beliefs:
>
> Belief:
> 	- scalable is good
> 	- if you create an XML vocabulary and it gets
> 	  used by only a few systems, it's a failure
> 	- an XML vocabulary that is used by thousands
> 	  is good, millions is better
>
> Counterargument:
> 	- individuality is good
> 	- combining XML fragments to create an XML
> 	  vocabulary which meets the needs of a
> 	  recipient -- ah, now that's the way to create XML
>
> Belief:
> 	- contracts are good
> 	- create XML Schemas and require all information
> 	  exchanges adhere to that XML Schema contract.
>
> Counterargument:
> 	- infinite replication is lousy
> 	- it is not good to have every house in a neighborhood
> 	  look identical, nor is it good to have every XML
> 	  instance look the same.
>
> /Roger




-- 
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/