Re: [xml-dev] "XML is just syntax" versus "Use semantic markup" (Is this a paradox?)

• From: Rick Jelliffe <rjelliffe@...>
• To: XML Developers List <xml-dev@...>
• Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:48:04 +1100

All computers can do is play with symbols: labels and pointers.

XML is just a syntax for annotating strings with labels and pointers. It 
may even be that successful systems try to defer or avoid or hide issues 
of semantics as much as possible: some data with a highly specific 
semantic is just sent as a string, or as a number. Rather than saying 
"how can we clarify the semantics of this  data" sometimes you need to 
say "how can we neutralize the semantic problems with this data?"

Cheers
Rick Jelliffe