XML and SGML (was XML & the future of tech writing)

["Simon North" <north -at- synopsys -dot- COM>]

Even though I'm an XML champion, I have to come to the defense of SGML here. 

> There are two big difference between SGML and XML. First, SGML was
> standardized by the vendors before a market existed. 

There are a lot more than two big differences, but these aren't them.
 
SGML was in use long before it became a standard. It was standardized by the ISO, not by any 
vendors. On the other hand, XML is "standardized" by the W3C, which is funded by vendors. The 
whole idea of ISO standardising SGML was to keep it vendor-independent. I can't say the same of 
XML, not since Microsoft got involved. 

>The standardization effort was meant to build a market, but it also
> created a lack of competition. 

Where on earth do you conclude this from? The effort had very little to do with building a market, 
except perhaps for giving the market a message that this was something permanent, stable and 
low risk. 

> Second, SGML was created for documentation purposes and XML was 
> created for programming purposes.

SGML was/is primarily information biases, though not necessarily in document form. It was/is 
quite successful for databases. That SGML is solely about documents is gross misconception. 

XML is an SGML application profile that was created to be Web portable; this had absolutely 
nothing to do with programming. XML still has DTDs (DOCUMENT type definitions); it's only with 
the appearance of schemata that programming has taken a central position.

> There is a bigger lesson here for TWs, SGML failed, because if focused
> on documentation, and XML succeeded, because it didn't. 

If SGML has failed, long live failure! SGML's  failure still generates significant revenue and SGML 
as a failure is still widely used in mature large-scale applications that dwarf the miniscule impact of 
XML. SGML has not gone away, nor will it. 

Has XML succeeded? Hardly. For a start, XML isn't even finished. Most of the style language 
hasn't yet been defined, the query language is still a work-in-progress ... a few percent of 
documents are produced as XML, and even for distribution they are down-converted to HTML. 
Advanced document delivery solutions, such as interactive electronic technical manuals, still rely 
heavily on SGML and it's HyTime application -- providing solutions far in advance of anything XML 
will be used to create within the next 5 years. 

XML a success? I think not; certainly not yet.

Simon North
contributing author "Presentiing XML"
contributing author "HTML 4, professional reference edition"
author "Teach Yourself XML in 21 Days"
and others .... 


And for an honest attribute cry out ... 
Pericles IV-iii

I might say 'element,' but the word is over-worn.
Twelfth Night, III-i


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