Re: [xml-dev] List of differences between XML and JSON?

[Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@gmail.com>]

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 4:20 PM, Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com> wrote:
> We've made a different choice for JSON processing: we've chosen not to provide parent pointers, which means that subtrees can be more easily shared, but other kinds of processing become more difficult.

Yes, and this means that any "child" in case of JSON isn't actually
aware that it is used/referred-to/owned by any of its "parents" --
this notion of ownership is completely absent.

>
> I don't think there's anything in the BNF of XML or JSON that made those different design choices inevitable.

Completely agreed, it is not the grammar but the semantics (Data Model)

JSON could have been designed with the notion of (multiple) parents,
but this obviously complicates and makes most modification operations
not too-efficient. I believe that the JSON design had as primary goal
simplicity.

Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev