[jdom-interest] Philosophical XML (was API Inertia)

[Mike Haarman]

<alex>There's still no agreement as to what should be a node and what
shouldn't.</alex>

NodeType ::= 'comment' | 'text' | 'processing-instruction' | 'node'

<elliott>define a solid tree model fully compatible with the XPath/XML
Infoset data model, and layer the additional constraints on top of
that.</elliott>

I admit to being a markup wonk first and a java programmer second, but I
find Mr. Harold's plea for *conceptual conformance* a compelling one.

<elliott>We cannot limit the API to only documents without any mixed content.</elliott>

Amen, brother!  The above model accommodates this requirement.

<paul>Personally, I have never understood the need for "mixed content". There are only elements.</paul>

The document-centricity of XML is not conceptual baggage from SGML, it is its richest feature.  Without it, the grace of XPath expressions is
impossible.

Processing instructions are vital in building systems which must interact with legacy applications.