Re: [xml-dev] Is XML a "data structure"?

[Marcus Reichardt <u123724@gmail.com>]

No, XML isn't an in-memory data structure as referred to in that book. Rather, an XML instance is a serialization of data/text, and XML, broadly speaking, is a system of rules to describe the grammar of such serialization. XML markup declarations can be optionally used to validate a sequence of content events generated by parsing such serialization from generic rules, whereas SGML markup declarations, in addition, can be required to drive parsing of such serialization (namely, if the serialization isn't in canonical/fully-tagged XML form, or uses attribute shortforms or other markup minimization). 

Best,
Marcus
sgml.io

> Am 03.06.2022 um 13:39 schrieb Roger L Costello <costello@mitre.org>:
> 
> Hi Folks,
> 
> A compiler book [1] that I am reading has a chapter on code optimization for the target machine. In the chapter it talks about how to break up the code into "basic blocks". This sentence struck a chord for me:
> 
> "A suitable data structure for basic blocks is a linked list, such as this ..." (the book then shows a C struct)
> 
> A suitable data structure ... 
> 
> Hmm, that's an interesting expression. Suppose that instead of basic blocks, I have book data - title, author, publisher, etc. What is a "suitable data structure" for that? Well, obviously XML!
> 
> Is XML a data structure?
> 
> /Roger
> 
> [1] "Introduction to Compiling Techniques" by J.P. Bennett, page 166.
> 
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