How Much XML Can There Be?

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

Hi Folks,

When XML first appeared on the scene there was an exponential growth in XML production. Many specialty fields were spawned: validation, transformation, pipelining, hyperlinking, etc.

Many areas show signs of internal exhaustion--for example, grammar-based validation, or hyperlinking. It seems unlikely that either will ever again produce anything that is both new and startling within its bounded confines.

It seems certain that there a limit to the amount of living XML that humanity can sustain at any time. As new XML specialties arise, old ones will have to be neglected.

Although each special field in XML can be expected to become exhausted, and although the exponential growth in XML production is bound to level off sooner or later, it is hard to foresee an end to all XML production.

Comments?

[The above is an adaptation of the chapter How Much Mathematics Can There Be? in the book The Mathematical Experience by Davis, Harsh, and Marchisotto.]

/Roger