In using XML and related standards over the years, XML Schema, XSLT, XPath, and SQL/XML, a single number stands out to me: “1.0”.
This is no surprise, as I’ve spent most of my time in the .NET space, where Microsoft has not seen fit to update its support of XML standards after its initial enthusiasm in the early 2000s. But looking around the ecosystem, other platforms aren’t doing much better. Even if you include third party libraries, support for the latest specifications is scare.
Support for modern XML technologies is centered around a single language, Java. XProc.org lists 6 of the 7 XProc implementations as Java based.
Why is this? Is this a problem? (you can guess my answer) What can be done to improve the situation?