Bob Foster wrote:
> If there were to be an XML 2.0, one of the goals should be that any
> off-the-shelf parser generator can produce a parser for it. It's
> ridiculously hard to write a correct XML parser; it ought to be
> ridiculously easy.
There are so many more developers who use XML than who write XML parsers
that the cost of writing a parser is negligible when spread over the
number of users. A small increase in the usability of XML is worth even
the cost of a major increase in the complexity of writing a parser. We
should not be aiming for a world where everyone writes their own parser.
No matter how easy it is to do, developers will get this wrong the first
few times out the gate. The resulting practical subsets and supersets of
XML would be an interoperability nightmare. We're better off with fewer
parsers written and debugged by experts, rather than everyone writing
their own custom one-off parser.
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
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
