RE: COMPLEXITY BIG ISSUE

[David Burdett <david.burdett@commerceone.com>]

David says ...
>>>ebXML should be targeted to the ordinary business programmers of the
world, not "people whose DTD skills [an XML expert]<<<

Generally I agree, but for ebXML Transport, I think that once we get a spec
out, people like IBM, Sun, MS etc will quickly provide software libraries
that make using ebXML style of messaging very easy. You will call an API and
it will generate the message in the correct format and manage its (reliable)
transmission to it's destination. For example how many people read the HTTP
spec in order to work out how to generate HTTP messages compared with using
a library of software they can use off the shelf?

The reason we need to develop specifications is so that IBM, Sun, MS, and
everyone else who wants to write the software can do it in an interoperable
way.

David


-----Original Message-----
From: David RR Webber [mailto:Gnosis_@compuserve.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2000 6:15 PM
To: Michael Champion
Cc: [unknown]; [unknown]
Subject: Re: COMPLEXITY BIG ISSUE


Message text written by "Michael Champion"
>
- Target Audience: ebXML should be targeted to the ordinary business
programmers of the world, not "people whose DTD skills [an XML expert]
respects very much" if it is to succeed in the marketplace.   Ponder the
success of HTML, Visual Basic, XML itself, etc.: all these can be used
effectively by virtually anyone who is computer-literate.  Contrast this
with the non-success of SGML, LISP, etc.: technically superior but
difficult
for the ordinary person to use quickly and effectively.

>>>>>>>>>>> Importantly as well - using nothing more than a simple editor
                          and a browser;  not complex visual tools that
create incompatible
                          content attempting to lock the user into one
vendors product over 
                          another.

These arguments apply to XML Schema as well as to ebXML; I personally hope
that the W3C refocusses that effort on finding the 80:20 point (for the
e-business world) NOW and achieving the rest of Schema's lofty goals in the
next release.  Assuming that they do not, ebXML would be well advised to
find such a point themselves, or to use a simpler schema language (and let
people use XML Authority or whatever to translate to the W3C spec when
necessary).

<<<<<<<<<<<

Michael,

Lasering in on the key points.

DW.