Re: [xml-dev] The meeting must start before it ends ...... Wow! That has

[Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>]

> 
> "Semantic analysis, also context sensitive analysis, is a process in compiler construction, usually after parsing, to gather necessary semantic information from source code. It usually includes type checking, or makes sure a variable is declared before use which is impossible to detect in parsing."
> 

That's a very specific usage of the term "semantics" used in compiler technology, quite different from its meaning in linguistics. But it illustrates the point that in computing, semantics often means "anything that isn't syntax". Rather as "artificial intelligence" means "the stuff we can't do yet but hope to do in the future".

Michael Kay
Saxonica