Re: [xml-dev] It's too late to improve XML ... lessons learned?

[Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>]

> On 8 Jan 2022, at 05:03, Rick Jelliffe <rjelliffe@allette.com.au> wrote:
> 
> Programming languages manage to change, grow and sometimes even lose features  all the time.
> 
> If it is possible for programming languages, why should it be impossible for XML? 
> 
> And if there is a technical reason (such as the under-specification of the semantics of the version psuedo-attribute in the header) can it be fixed first, propagate out and open things up again?
> 

I don't think it's a technical reason. I think it's because there are so many XML parsers that need to change, and so many of them are under the control of vendors (the browser vendors in particular) who have made it clear they're not interested in changing them; and some of them run on platforms that make it very difficult for third parties to fill the gap.

Most programming languages have only one, or a small handful of implementations. There are probably at least 20 XML parsers in widespread use, and probably another 50 used in odd niches.

Plus, interoperability standards (take email) are much harder to change than programming languages, because people will avoid using a new feature until it's implemented everywhere.



Michael Kay
Saxonica