Re: FW: Dissuading Woodpeckers!

Rohit Khare (rohit@bordeaux.ICS.uci.edu)
Mon, 23 Mar 1998 09:32:50 -0800



> Of course, as with all problems in life big and small, XML will solve
> this completely, by differentiating between <BIRD>woodpeckers</> and
> <WEBBROWSER>woodpeckers</>.

Bzzt! Invalid XML!

In fact, XML does NOT allow compact end tags -- that would be <BIRD/> and
<WEBBROWSER/> to you, Mister.

Yes, this is silly. No, it's not silly when you wear SGMLglasses. Does it
deserve to remain a wart on the side of America's Favorite Markup (TM)? Not
really. Is it worth protesting? Probably not -- my argument would be to offer
a separate alternative form ('the YML hypothesis') instead.

One of the many questions I'll be looking for answers on at XML98 this week in
Seattle...

Rohit