Re: [xml-dev] Data-driven application --> the data is essentially"machin

[Thomas Passin <list1@tompassin.net>]

On 12/6/2022 9:28 AM, Roger L Costello wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Suppose you have data that drives an application. Maybe the data is 
> something like this:
>
> <Document>
>
>      <item>data1</item>
>
>      <item>data2</item>
>
>      <item>data3</item>
>
> </Document>
>
> The application performs this loop:
>
> 1. read the next piece of data
>
> 2. perform an action based on the data
>
> 3. if no more data then done else goto 1.
>
> That is how a CPU behaves, right? So the data is essentially “machine 
> code” to the application, right?
No, that data is not "machine code".  The steps 1 - 3 the app takes play 
the role of machine code.

> The data could be a list of XPath expressions. Then the XPath 
> expressions are essentially machine code, right?
Any list of instructions could be seen as instructions to some virtual 
machine.  If the data is a list of XPATH expressions, that does not in 
any way say how the app might process them.  The app might sort them 
into order, substitute full URIs for the namespaces, who knows what it 
might want to do?

> Machine code is usually produced by a compiler. That is, a higher level 
> language is compiled into machine code. Have you created a higher level 
> language which you “compile” into data that then drives an application? 
> What is the higher level language?
>
> Have you ever “reverse engineered” data? That is, have you reverse 
> engineered data to produce a higher level language?
>
> /Roger