On 10/17/13 6:35 PM, Peter Hunsberger wrote:
> I'll buy into your view on REST, maybe a better fit is something like
> Web Sockets?
It could be. I think my general thought is that it matters less how the
modules communicate among themselves and more how they're assembled or
orchestrated. REST will certainly work for the communication, but I'm
not sure it's central.
> However, I can't agree with you in regards to tighter
> specs inside applications and looser between them. Are you suggesting
> that (for example) a Java method that has a single String as it's input
> and output needs a full XSD or some other more formal spec?
No, but - to use an example I have doubts about - programmers build
types inside their code and expect pieces to fit together based on those
declarations. They don't need XSD, as there's already a type system there.
XSD is what you use when you want to inflict type systems on the outside
world. (Granted, 'outside' may have a variety of meanings.)
> I suspect
> you're indulging in a bit of hyperbole in that,
Actually, I was indulging in understatement.
> flexibility between
> applications in what they can accept might simplify the world, but you
> know as well as anyone that not everything can be mapped to name value
> pairs or tuples and left at that?
I think we've been through this conversation, but for a quick reprise:
* Brittleness works better inside of applications where you control the
whole conversation.
* Flexibility, whether by means of multiple pathways, human
intervention, or a combination of strategies, works better between
applications where you don't control it all.
The tragedy of XML is that instead of building flexible systems for
dealing with each others' expectations, we slapped schemas down as
relatively simple tests, border guards who aren't very smart. Tangling
it further, we then try to talk through schemas when we should probably
just talk with each other.
Yes, it does take effort to build systems without demanding prior and
consistent agreement, and it can be hard to see the value when people
come from legal or programming cultures that mistake brittleness for
strength.
I'm happy to report that I keep hearing small stories of flexible
structures built on markup, and hope that new best practices will climb
out from under the current maze.
Thanks,
--
Simon St.Laurent
http://simonstl.com/
