Re: [xml-dev] The impact of data format selection on applicationdevelopm

[Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>]

> 
> But -- and I think this is the key point -- simple formats run out of steam really quickly, and if requirements change, then the simple format, hackily extended in this direction and that, will start to look more hellish, faster, than any of the more sophisticated formats.  Or: simplicity is sometimes brittle.
> 

This is indeed the key point. We invest an enormous amount in building systems that have potential for change. It's a black art, because unlike the other "-ilities" we have no way of quantifying how much potential for change we want, or of measuring how much we have got, but experience tells us that it's a desirable feature worth investing in.

Potential for change at the interfaces between system components is particularly valuable because it allows the components to evolve (and be replaced) independently of each other. That's why extensible data formats for data interchange are worth having.

Michael Kay
Saxonica