Re: [xml-dev] RE: The XML abstraction leaks

[David Rudel <fwqhgads@gmail.com>]

Roger,
I love abstractions, but to me the abstraction lies in how XML
conceptually packages information rather than the textual protocol
that is the language itself.

So to me the abstraction **behind** XML is that information can be
structured as a nested set of elements that have unordered (and
therefore necessarily labeled) attributes and ordered content (other
elements, text nodes, processing instructions, comments, etc.)
associated to them.

On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 1:50 PM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:
> Thank you David and Michael. I would like to follow up please.
>
>
>
> I really am fascinated by the topic of abstractions and leaky abstractions.
> I hope that lots of people will pitch in with their thoughts and opinions on
> this topic.
>
>
>
> 1. What is “the XML abstraction”? I said that it is this:
>
>
>
> An XML document contains data and the data
>                is surrounded (delimited) by markers. More
>                concretely, an XML document contains pairs
>                of start-tags and end-tags, sandwiched between
>                them is character data and possibly other
>                start-tag, end-tag pairs.
>
>
>
> Do you agree that that is the XML abstraction? If not, would you provide
> your definition of “the XML abstraction” please?
>
>
>
> 2. What is a “leaky abstraction”? From reading  Joel Spolsky’s article as
> well as Peter Seibel’s description [1] I have arrived at this definition:
>
>
>
>                The XML abstraction leaks when users must
>                understand to some extent how software that
>                implements the XML abstraction—the XML
>                processor—works internally.
>
>
>
> Do you agree with that? If not, would you provide your definition of what it
> means for the XML abstraction to leak please?
>
>
>
> 3. Would you identify a leak in the XML abstraction please?
>
>
>
> /Roger
>
>
>
> [1] Peter Seibel has a wonderful discussion of leaky abstractions in his
> book, Practical Common Lisp. He gives an awesome example of a user-defined
> function (abstraction) that leaks.
>
>



-- 

"A false conclusion, once arrived at and widely accepted is not
dislodged easily, and the less it is understood, the more tenaciously
it is held." - Cantor's Law of Preservation of Ignorance.