> > I think many involved in XML assume you'll use a nice editor to hide the
> > syntax.
> >
>
> That never worked for Lisp. The s-exp syntax was always supposed to be an
> internal syntax; the top-level syntax never got fully implemented. Once
> people realized it was forthcoming, they tried to build smarter
> editors ---
> and instead ended up with editors that knew a whole lot about parens.
The Lisp experience also suggests that we'll wind up with a bunch of people
who don't understand the whining about XML syntax because they really do
grok it as is. Many years ago (yea, verily, before the Web) I joined a
research group that worked in Scheme. Even though I already "knew" Scheme
there was a 3-4 month period where it was hard work to read other people's
code. Then one day it was... suddenly... all... easy. A strange experience,
and it seems to be like learning to ride a bicycle: i.e. once acquired, you
don't ever lose it again.
--Mark
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Apr 27 2001 - 23:13:37 PDT