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Bob Foster wrote: > A reasonable pov, probably represents the majority, I just don't agree > with it. A barrier to entry is a barrier to entry. The fact that it's > hard to write an XML parser means it's hard to understand how to use > XML, too. This doesn't necessarily follow. There are cases where the difficulty of parsing XML is in sync with the difficulty of authoring it (parameter entity references come to mind). However, there are also cases where the difficulty of parsing XML is a direct result of making it easier to author and read. The matching of start-tags to end-tags is such an example. As has been pointed out elsewhere, this cause problems for certain kinds of grammars and parser generators. Yet it's a crucial part of making XML easier to use then SGML was. The bottom line is I don't find any arguments based on the difficulty of parsing XML to be really compelling, given that we have existence proofs that correct, efficient parsing of XML is possible. -- Elliotte Rusty Harold elharo@m... XML in a Nutshell 3rd Edition Just Published! http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/xian3/ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596007647/cafeaulaitA/ref=nosim
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