On Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 10:48 AM, <[email protected]<ned%[email protected]> > wrote:
> > Even if XML-specific tools like stylesheets prove less than useful in > performing manipulations of calendar data, there's still significant > benefit > associated with being able to use built in parsing capbilities, espcially > when > those capabilites are nicely tied to automatic creation of complex data > stuctures in various languages. > What many XML-haters do not understand is that the syntax is designed to completely automate the process of writing the parser and the backing data classes. Starting with an XML Schema definition I can generate the corresponding data structures automatically with one mouse click together with the corresponding parser/serializer calls. Starting from an EBNF description, I have to first read the description. This has already taken more time than working with the XML version would. I then have to work out if the grammar is an FSM or LR(1) or something else. When I was a grad student I used to write yacc parsers but these days I have written enough parser generators that I can actually hand code quicker than it takes me working round the peculiarities of yacc. So what takes me no time at all with XML is likely to take a couple of days and considerably more skill with EBNF. Of course this approach works best in modern languages like Java and C# but I have generated similar tools for C and I am pretty sure the same tools exist for objective C. Its going to suck somewhat if you are coding in FORTRAN or Pascal. -- Website: http://hallambaker.com/
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