users@jaxb.java.net

Re: JAXB Philosophy

From: Gustavo Cebrian <gustavo.cebrian_at_greenhatconsulting.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 14:52:56 +0100

OK, you need a way to define data, and that is good, and you need to separate the data
from the logic. The thing is. "You need to define structures of objects". If you want to use XML,
fine. A bunch of tidy bytes.

Why can not use use JAVA to define structures? fine by me if it is XML.

I think you got wrong my message. Java actually defines data, but you are right, apart from that, it is a language, but it could be used just as a data definer. Apart from that, you can add logic, as JAXB is doing now adding validation rules.

I am not saying XML is not useful, quite the opposite, it is necessary because there are more platforms. It is very good.

One thing I do in Java most of the people do not do is creating a class for every single attribute.
That way the classes are more portable. That is was JAXB is doing adding validation rules. You can just have certain combinations in the bunch of files!!

I love XML, you just have to understand my message.

Basically I said If there was only one platform, but there are more!!!!

Gst.

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Analyst/Programmer

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-----Original Message-----
From: Brandon Franklin [mailto:brandon_at_thoughtriver.com]
Sent: 20 June 2003 14:16
To: Gustavo Cebrian
Subject: Re: JAXB Philosophy


> Why is not everything Java? In this case we would not need to use XML.
> If Sun was the only leading company everything would be easier ( with no
competitors ).

I think that's a fairly limited perspective of why XML is valuable. XML is
valuable, and has made such an impact on the industry, precisely because it
is language and implementation agnostic. That is, it would be no better to
say "Well everything's Java". The whole point is that XML is about the
information, and ONLY the information...nothing about how it's used or in
what language its related code is implemented.

What about 20, 30 years from now? XML-based data will still be usable. I
hope Java is still around then, but is it safe to ASSUME it will be? Surely
not. Even if it is, it will be in a much different form than it is today.
What are you going to do, run JDK 1.2 when the current version is Java 3.8,
just so you can deserialize some classes you saved "way back" in 2003?

Throughout the history of computing, information has been plagued by the
periodic loss of its accessibility as formats become either forgotten or too
obscure to be useful. XML is the first realistic attempt at making data
self-describing, and therefore, lasting.

-Brandon
 Thought River South